Jammu, March 22
As many as one lakh pension cases of different social security schemes are pending with the Department of Social Welfare. These cases also included widow and old-age pensions.

Sakina Itoo, Minister of Social Welfare, had admitted in the Assembly that a large number of cases were pending and she had requested the Chief Minister and the Finance Minister to show magnanimity in this regard.

Though the minister attributed many reasons for delay in clearing cases under social security schemes, a large number of deserving people have been facing hardships due to inordinate delay in getting benefits.

On the disbursement of pension, the minister said the government had fixed 15-25 of every month for the disbursement of pension to the beneficiaries covered under the welfare schemes of the department through J&K Bank and the authorities of which had been directed to adhere to the schedule strictly.

She, however, said as many as 23,000 new cases had been approved under various social security schemes to provide succour to the poor, besides enhancing pension amount of the beneficiaries. She said a record number of 3,000 cases had been covered under the National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS) while the total number of beneficiaries under the Integrity Social Security Schemes (ISSS), besides others, has risen to 3.55 lakh.

She said two new schemes, Indira Gandhi Widow Pension Scheme and Indira Gandhi National Disabled Pension Scheme, were also picking up even as the government was pursuing with the Centre to relax norms under the twin welfare schemes to bring more deserving cases under their ambit.

Presently, nine lakh children and women are benefitting under ICDS through a network of 28,000 anganwari centres across the state, she said, adding that 3,500 centres under phase-III were also being set up. The selection process for engagements of anganwari workers and helpers had been made transparent with 85 per cent marks prescribed for matric merit and 15 per cent for interview, she maintained.

To augment the network of anganwari centres in the state, a proposal envisaging establishment of 10,000 new such centres has been sent to the Centre, she said, adding that the ministry concerned had agreed to sanction the proposal.

Sakina Itoo said purchases for nutritious items was being made by district-level committees headed by the district development commissioner concerned, ruling out interference from any quarter in effecting the purchases.

She said assistance under rehabilitation council had been hiked to Rs 1,000 from Rs 750 where 7,000 militancy-hit victims were availing benefits.

Jammu, March 22
Known as a seat of learning in ancient times, the centuries-old Sharda temple is presently lying in ruins in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Various historians, research scholars and academicians here have called for its preservation.

These experts have also demanded revival of Sharda script so that hundreds of manuscripts traced in this language could be deciphered.

The call for preserving the site of archaeological importance which traces the history of Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of the country was put forth during a radio feature programme broadcast over the primary service of Radio Kashmir Jammu.

It was for the first time that a programme touching upon the importance of Sharda in India's socio-cultural history was produced and funded by Prasar Bharati under the J&K Special Package scheme.

Prof Ayaz Rasool Nazki, who had visited Sharda temple two years ago, said the structure should be declared as a world heritage site and both India and Pakistan should come forward for this noble cause.

Falling in the Neelam valley and about 160 km from Muzafarabad, Nazki said Sharda held a great importance for every Indian, especially for the people of Jammu and Kashmir who were frequent visitors to the temple prior to the Partition.

Located near the confluence of the Madhumati and the Krishnaganga, Sharda also held a special significance in the evolution of the people of Kashmir as an intellectual identity as it was an ancient site of learning in the subcontinent, he added.

Even as the structure of the temple remained intact all these years and also withstood the killer quake of 2005, Nazki said the site was lying in a dilapidated condition and out of bound for civilians and the people of that part of Kashmir were unaware of its heritage value.

Tracing the history of this site of pilgrimage, Kamlesh Tufchi of Satisar Foundation said there existed a university in ancient times at Sharda village, also called Sarde, now in PoK. "The university was known as Sharda Peeth and Kashmir as Sharda Mandal where scholars from far off places, even from the South, used to visit for advanced studies in fields like literature, grammar, medicine, Ayurveda and spiritualism. A two-day convocation used to be an annual feature when pass-outs were conferred certificates and new recruits inducted," Tufchi said.

He said the temple had a high relevance especially for Kashmiri Pandits, who even used to live in its vicinity during the times of undivided Kashmir.

"Pandits still long to go on a pilgrimage to Sharda and treat it as one of their main deities. Even during the premiership of Atal Behari Vajpayee, the issue was vigorously taken up with the Musharraf regime, which however, did not bear results," said Pyare Hatash, a research scholar.

He said it was also a Buddhist place of learning as a number of Buddhist manuscripts written in Sharda language have been traced from the site.

Both Hatash and Tufchi said some of these manuscripts of high importance were still lying with the state Department of Archives and Archaeology and needed a thorough study to peep into our rich and glorious past.

They, however, regretted that since Sharda script in which Kashmiri used to be written in ancient times had now been ignored and omitted, there were a few scholars who could read and decipher such manuscripts.

Jammu, March 22
Either "babus" are overburdened or they simply don't bother about elected representatives, who have to cut a sorry figure in the state legislature. In a recent incident, Law Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar failed to reveal the names of non-deserving people who have been allotted government accommodation across the state.

Though the minister informed the Upper House about the total number of allottees, he sought six months to present full details. He cited a long list of allottees as the reason for not having the exact information.

Replying to a query raised by Amrit Malhotra of the Congress, Sagar said: "There are 6,552 beneficiaries living in government houses across the state. Among these, 3,627 are in Jammu and 2,925 in Srinagar."

He said: "Keeping in view the large number of allottees, both in Jammu and Srinagar, it will take six months to collect the relevant data from the individual allottees to confirm how many of them have their own houses and living in government accommodation."

However, Malhotra was not satisfied with this reply and again raised the issue, saying that "this is causing a huge burden on the state's exchequer and the process should be completed within a short and stipulated time."

With this, Sagar replied:"At present, I can only give the breakdown of the allottees and if you want to know the names of politicians, legislators and ministers. I will give the reply tomorrow in the House. But, if you also want to know such details about the government employees, the information can be provided only after six months."

Meanwhile, Arvinder Singh Micky, acting Chairman of the Legislative Council, directed the minister to furnish complete details in the next session.

Sagar further informed the House that among total 6,552 beneficiaries, there are 50 ministers/advisors, 90 legislators, 101 politicians, 98 journalists and 6,213 government employees.

Jammu, March 22
Following the announcement of the schedule for the ensuing panchayat poll beginning April 13, Minister for Health, Horticulture and Floriculture Sham Lal Sharma has called for larger participation of people and asked them to gear up to make the electioneering process a huge success.

Addressing a public gathering at Akhnoor recently, Sharma said the coalition government was committed to strengthening the democracy at the ground level and panchayats were being empowered appropriately.

He said the elections would be fought on a non-party basis and people should elect the representatives of repute with social commitment and devotion so that they could serve society selflessly.

Asserting that the state has suffered huge financial loss due to delay in holding the elections, Sharma said with the earnest efforts of the government, the aspirations of millions of people would be fulfilled and panchayats would be able to play their role for the development according to the wishes of the local people.

He appealed the people to ensure peaceful environment during the elections and try to develop a consensus for the genuine representatives to declare them unopposed winners. Listing the measures initiated by the government to improve facilities for the people of Akhnoor, he said massive development in all sectors had taken place during the past two years.

He said Akhnoor town had received focused attention and its pristine glory had been restored. In view of its historical background, effort had been made to create various facilities for tourists who throng this town throughout the year. Sharma said some new sites had been identified for tourist attraction, adding that a proposal to develop Jia Potha Ghat on the Chenab on the pattern of Laxman Jhoola was under active consideration of the government and was likely to be approved by the Centre shortly.

The project would help attract large number of tourists from across the country, which would transform the scenario of the town. He said lakhs of pilgrims pay visit to this town throughout the year and immerse ashes of their forefathers in the Chenab and the government had to create necessary facilities for them. He further said the government had given priority to health, education, road connectivity, PHE and power sectors and lot of work in these sectors had been done.

He said effort had been made to connect all villages with ‘pucca’ road links. Deep drilling tube wells would be dug to overcome water scarcity in the kandi (dry land) belt, he maintained.

Different images of life were witnessed once again on the festival of Holi in the temple city with young and old keen to celebrate the festival of colours in a big way. In fast-paced life influenced by westernization, it appeared that some among the young generation forgot to celebrate the festival in its true form. Affluent scions were seen using sprays, eggs and shoe polish to celebrate the festival.

Jammu, March 22
Minister for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Raman Bhalla and Minister for Higher Education and Labour Employment Abdul Gani Malik recently convened a meeting of officers of higher education and revenue departments to discuss the site plan besides the land proposed for the construction of Government Degree College, Paloura.

Minister of State for Higher Education Dr. Manohar Lal Sharma, MLA Bharat Bhushan, Commissioner/ Secretary Tanveer Jehan, Secretary, Revenue, Ejaz Iqbal, District Development Commissioner Sanjeev Verma, Director Colleges Dr. Sham Lal Gupta, Special Secretary, Higher Education, HK Sharma, Custodian, Jammu, Abdul Majid Wani, besides other senior officers of the Revenue and Higher Education departments attended the meeting.

Addressing the meeting, Bhalla said the government was planning to utilise the government land retrieved from land grabbers for the construction of colleges, office complexes, schools, parks, parking slots, cremation grounds, etc. He asked the land grabbers to vacate the state land voluntarily otherwise be ready to face action. He asked habitual land encroachers to vacate the state land, adding that the government had constituted a special squad for the eviction of encroachments on the state land and the help of the Police Department would also be taken to deal with those who would create problems in the government’s drive.

He said the government had also received complaints regarding the fake allotments of the state and evacuee property in different areas of the state. He asked them to enquire into the complaints and report to the higher authorities for further necessary action.

He appealed the people to lodge information regarding land grabbers on website www.jammu@nic.in also.

He said officers of the EP and the Revenue Department showing the best performances in this regard would be awarded and those found lacking in their duties would invite stringent action from the government.

He informed that the government had retrieved 225 kanals evacuee property and 50 kanals state land from the grabbers at Panchwati village near Mishriwalla, adding that the land had been fenced and would be used for creating public utilities.

Regarding the construction of the government degree college complex, Paloura, Bhalla informed the Higher Education Minister that the available evacuee property and the state land were the best choice for the college building, adding that the site had an easy accesses as it was situated near the National Highway.

The Minister said the Centre had approved 22 new colleges for the far-flung pockets of the state where gross enrolment ratio was lowest, adding that 11 colleges would be established from the state plan funding and other 11 from the Central government funding for the benefit of students.

Srinagar, March 22
After facing huge losses last year due to the four months of summer unrest in the Kashmir valley, the fruit growers here are praying for a peaceful summer this year so that they could make up the losses incurred by them last year.

"Last year, fruit worth crores of rupees was spoiled as the same could not be transported out of the state due to the continuous spell of strikes and curfew for four months," said Ghulam Rasool, a former president of the All-Kashmir Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association.

He said small and medium fruit growers suffered the most as their entire yield was damaged in godowns.

"Apple, peaches and other fruit that grows in Kashmir has a limited shelf life. In the absence of any cold store facilities in Kashmir, the entire crop was kept in open godowns where it rotted," said Mazoor Ahmed, a fruit grower of Sopore, which is known as the apple bowl of Kashmir.

The fruit growers in Kashmir had to face huge losses in 2008 as well when some political parties in Jammu imposed an economical blockade on Kashmir during the two-month-old Amarnath land row agitation.

"Our fruit-laden trucks were looted or burnt by the protesters in Jammu. They did not allow any fruit-laden vehicle from Kashmir to pass. That was the first time when the fruit growers in Kashmir faced huge losses." Said Manzoor Ahmed.

In 2009 too, the fruits growers again bore the brunt of the agitation in Kashmir as the alleged rape and killing of two girls in Shopian evoked a widespread protest in the entire Kashmir valley, which witnessed a shutdown for almost two months. "Fruit and tourism industry is the backbone of the Kashmir economy and if peace prevails in the valley, both sectors would be able to revive," said an official of the state administration.