Jammu, March 30
Business in the Legislative Assembly started today only after the Privileges Committee of the House recommended “attachment” of senior bureaucrat RK Jerath, who had allegedly “insulted and humiliated” BJP legislator Lal Chand on Monday.

As the House assembled at 10 am for today’s business, all members, except ministers, boycotted the proceedings. The members wanted to know what action the government had taken against the officer?

Due to lack of quorum, the proceedings of the Assembly could not be started. Members of all parties sat in the Central Hall of the Assembly waiting for the recommendations of the Privileges Committee, which had summoned BJP MLA Lal Chand and senior bureaucrat RK Jerath at 9 am for their version.

At 11.42 am, the House assembled and all members returned to the Assembly. As soon as Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone asked Panthers Party member Harsh Dev to speak on his call attention motion, which was listed in the business, National Conference member Nazir Ahmed Gurezi stood from his seat and asked the Chair about the decision taken by the Privileges Committee.

The Speaker informed the member that the Privileges Committee, which probed the matter under the leadership of Congress member Abdul Majid Wani, had recommended “attachment” of the Principal Secretary, Health and Medical Education, RK Jerath. He said the allegation levelled by BJP legislator Lal Chand against the officer was found to be true by the committee and the denial of the allegation by the officer was an excuse.

The Speaker, while reading out the report of the committee in the House, directed the government to take further action immediately. He said the Constitution had granted privilege to the legislature and nobody would be allowed to undermine the honour and dignity of legislators. He said every officer must behave properly with the legislators.

Later, the House unanimously adopted the recommendation of the Privileges Committee to attach the officer.

Jammu, March 30
As both coalition partners failed to arrive at a consensus on the sharing of seats, the Congress and the National Conference fielded four candidates each for the coming Legislative Council elections in the state. As far as the strength of MLAs in the Assembly is concerned, the coalition partners are in a position to win five seats.

Sources in the Congress said talks on seat-sharing between the coalition partners failed, so it was decided that both parties would file nominations of four candidates each as today was the last date for the filing of papers.

“As the talks are continuing, some candidates belonging to the coalition will withdraw so as to fight the elections jointly,” sources said, adding that a meeting of senior leaders of the coalition partner would be held tomorrow.

Congress candidates Ghulam Nabi Monga, Abdul Gani Vakil, Jahangir Mir and Yashpal Khajuria filed their papers toady while NC candidates Bashir Ahmad Shah, Noor Hussian, Dharam Bir Singh Oberia and Shahnaza Ganai filed their nominations.

Congress candidates Abdul Gani Vakil and Jahangir Mir are sitting members of the Legislative Council.

Besides eight candidates of the coalition partners, eight other candidates also filed their papers before the Secretary of the Legislative Assembly, Mohmmad Ramzan, who is the returning officer for the April 13 poll.

Of the candidates who filed their nomination papers four each belong to the NC and the Congress, three to the BJP, two to the Panthers Party and one to the PDP. Another candidate is an Independent.

Srinagar, March 30
As the Indian and Pakistani leadership used the World Cup semifinal at Mohali today to boost diplomatic relations, the separatist leadership in Kashmir pinned its hopes on the two leaders for finding ways for an everlasting solution to the Kashmir issue through a composite dialogue. The cricket fever, with almost equal support for both teams in the Kashmir valley, gripped a majority of the people who remained glued to their television screens watching the mega event virtually like a “political war” that led to the disruption of normal life throughout the day.

The “diplomatic and political war” was evident since early morning across Kashmir as people chalked out their schedule keeping the match in mind. A taxi driver, who ferries commuters from Anantnag town to Srinagar daily, said many of his regular commuters did not turn up this morning and decided to stay back to watch the match.

Mohammad Shafi, a labourer, who comes from a remote village in Budgam district to work at a construction site, failed to reach his workplace this morning as, according to him, no no passenger vehicles were available.

There was thin traffic on the roads here since morning, which further decreased by the afternoon when the match started. Few footpath vendors could be seen today while market places wore a “deserted look”.

The authorities were closely keeping a watch on the situation and all possible measures had been taken to prevent any untoward situation “arising out the cricket match at Mohali”.

Power supply to most city areas was disrupted since last night. The supply was restored by this afternoon to ensure that people could watch the match. However, many homes had made arrangements well in advance to maintain power supply by repairing their generator sets so that they did not miss even a single moment of the “high voltage” match.

Jammu, March 30
Tehreek-e-Insaf, an organisation fighting for the cause of terrorism-affected families of the Jammu region, today accused the state government of ignoring the victims of militancy in the Jammu region, compelling them to take to streets.

Chairman of the Tehreek-e-Insaf former MLA Mohammed Farooq Mir said the victims of terrorism in the Jammu region were at the brink of starvation due to the nonchalant attitude of the state government.

Mir was addressing a seminar organised by the Forum for Human Rights and Social Justice where a panel of experts headed by the former Governor of Himachal Pradesh, Justice VS Kokje also released a fact-finding report on the problems confronted by the victims of militancy across the Jammu region.

Even today 50 percent cases of Sadr-e-Riyasat Ordinance (SRO)-43 in the Jammu region are still pending. Instead of expediting disposal of such cases, the government on January 27, 2009 issued an order that militancy affected families having an income of more than Rs 5000 per month shall not be entitled to any militancy related compensation, he added.

He warned the government to end injustice with the militancy-affected people of Jammu province.

Earlier, Justice Kokje, who yesterday had submitted the copies of inquiry report to Governor NN Vohra, Leader of the Opposition Mehbooba Mufti, Chaman Lal Gupta of the BJP, Balwant Singh Mankotia of the Panthers Party, felt the state government should bring its act together and do the needful for the victims of militancy in the Jammu region.

Among others the seminar was attended by lawyers, professors, doctors and migrants from Rajouri, Poonch, Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban, Reasi and Udhampur districts.

On the occasion ‘Justice on Trial’, an Ahmedabad based Trust working for the human rights and social justice, honoured Mohammed Farooq Mir Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman, Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Beg and Mohammed Aslam Kohli of Doda for their struggle in seeking justice for the terrorism affected people of the Jammu region.

Jammu, March 30
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah yesterday reaffirmed his government’s commitment to the devolution of power at the grassroots level through an effective Panchayati Raj system.

“You can take a firm message from here to the Centre that my government is committed to Panchayat Raj in Jammu and Kashmir,” he told high-ranking officers from the Union Panchayati Raj Department. He added the election process for the purpose had already commenced.

Omar was chairing a high-level meeting of senior officers of the Centre and the state government.

Omar said the basic aim of the Panchayati Raj was to empower public representatives at lower levels and decentralise the authority at the top.

He stressed the importance of an effective and transparent Panchayati Raj system for all-round development and the involvement of people in policy planning. “We are determined to create a sound panchayat system in the state,” he said.

He said Jammu and Kashmir was holding panchayat elections after over 30 years.

“In my opinion the easiest part of putting in place the Panchayati Raj system is through holding the elections and this is the first phase. The second phase of implementing the guidelines and basic principles of the Panchayati Raj to evolve ‘viable and vibrant panchayat institutions’ is a difficult one,” he said.

He added that the state government would do everything possible to make the Panchayati Raj system an effective tool for good governance in the state.

Union Secretary for Panchayati Raj ANP Sinha and his team of officers made a comprehensive and detailed presentation regarding the creation of an effective and strong Panchayati Raj in the state.

The Central team highlighted the role of panchayats in strengthening democracy, decentralisation of power, social and political empowerment of people, particularly women and the disadvantaged sections.

Jammu, March 30
Leh, the largest district of the country in terms of area (45,110 sq km), has an acute shortage of ambulances. The district, which comprises 113 villages, has only four ambulances to cater to patients of the far-flung areas.

While replying to a question asked by Narboo Gialchan of the Congress in the Upper House, Health Minister Sham Lal Sharma said today that the people of Leh were suffering due to the non-availability of ambulances.

“As per the criteria fixed by the state government, Leh district has been sanctioned 17 ambulances, but so far only four ambulances have been provided to the hospitals there,” said Sham Lal, during Question Hour.

In the detail provided to the House, the minister said two out of four ambulances were provided in 2009-2010 under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).

However, he assured the House that only Leh was facing the problem, as all other districts were provided with adequate number of ambulances.

He said, “For example, take Doda district which is more prone to accidents, there we have provided 27 ambulances against the sanctioned strength of 18 ambulances”.

Dissatisfied over the minister’s reply, legislators Murtaza Ahmad Khan of the PDP and Naresh Gupta of the Congress also raised supplementary questions.

“There is no hard and fast rule while sanctioning the ambulances in all districts,” Sham Lal said.

He added, “The Health Department takes decision keeping in view the requirements”.

However, he did not assure the House to provide more ambulances to the district.

Jammu, March 30
The work in the Jammu & Kashmir High Court and in courts throughout the Jammu province remained suspended on a call given by the Jammu Bar Association in protest against the tabling of a Bill to amend the Registration Act.

The members of the Executive Committee in a meeting presided over by its president BS Slathia expressed resentment over the sinister designs of the government to take away the powers of the registration of legal documents from the judicial officers and vest the same with the executive officers under the control of the government.

Referring to a recent disclosure in media about the land grabbing issue, the state government instead of restoring the public trust by ensuring a clean administration in the state, has tabled the proposed Bill to amend the Registration & Stamp Act in the Legislative Assembly. This has been done to benefit the land mafia, while reiterating and re-affirming the ranking of Jammu and Kashmir’s dubious distinction of being the second most corrupt state in the country, said the secretary Vikram Sharma.

The Executive Committee further decided to hold the General House meeting on March 31 to chalk out the future strategy.

Jammu, March 30
The Arakshan Bachao Manch has appealed to the state government to make necessary amendments to the SRO-181 during the ongoing Assembly session to reserve seats of sarpanch for women, SCs and STs in proportion to their population in the state.

The manch expressed concern over the amendments to the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act rules by reserving only panch constituencies and not the panchayat halqas or sarpanch constituencies.

Bali Bhagat, former MLA and spokesperson of the organisation, said the amendment violated the Fundamental Rights guaranteed to the reserved categories of the state by the Indian Constitution as well as the state constitution.

He flayed the amendment under the SRO-181 and said it was against the spirit of Article 14, 16 and 19 of the constitution of the state and the Indian Constitution.

“There are 4,130 sarpanch constituencies in the 143 blocks of the state and 50,68,975 electorates have to cast votes in the proposed panchayat election in the state. However, not even a single panchayat halqa or sarpanch constituency has been kept reserved for these categories,” Bhagat added.

He said the manch had decided to challenge the retrograde amendment of the Panchayati Raj Act in the J&K High Court if the state government failed to amend the SRO-181 in the Legislative Assembly.

Jammu, March 30
Governor NN Vohra took stock of the pace of work on the 11-km-long Pir Panjal railway tunnel connecting Banihal with Qazigund during his visit to the tunnel site at Banihal today.

Briefing the Governor, Achal Jain, Chief Engineer, Northern Railway, said work on 10.40 km of the tunnel had been completed. This included 6.10 km tunnel from the Banihal side and 4.30 km from the Qazigund side.

The work on the remaining 600 metres was in progress and was scheduled to be completed by December 2011, he added.

Thereafter, the work for laying of the track would commence and the entire work, including its ventilation, lighting, firefighting and monitoring systems would be put in place. The tunnel would be ready for commissioning by March 2013, the Chief Engineer said.

The First Lady, Usha Vohra, and the Principal Secretary to the Governor, RK Goyal, accompanied the Governor during the visit. The Governor was apprised that the New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM) was being used in the construction of the Banihal-Qazigund tunnel, which was one of the longest transport railway tunnels in the country.

The Governor drove into the under-construction tunnel, where he was briefed about various technical aspects.

He emphasised the importance of the tunnel and the Udhampur-Katra-Banihal sections of the project being completed expeditiously, as on completion, the rail link project would not only provide all weather connectivity to the Kashmir valley with the rest of the country but also give a crucial boost to the economic development of the state.

Vinod Kumar, deputy chief engineer, Northern Railway, and senior civil and police officers of the Ramban District Administration were present on the occasion.

Earlier, on arrival at the Banihal Helipad, the Governor and the First Lady were received by Ajay Singh Jamwal, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Ramban, Anil Kumar Magotra, SP, Ramban, and officials of the Army.

Later, on reaching Dharmund near Batote, the Governor and the First Lady were received by Munish Kumar Sinha, DIG, Doda; Shabir Ahmad Bhat, Deputy Commissioner, Ramban; Brig Gopal Gurung, Deputy GOC, CIF (Delta), and other senior civil, police and Army officials.

The Governor and the First Lady drove to Patnitop, where the Governor emphasised the need for speedy initiatives to be undertaken to upgrade the existing facilities at the resort.

Jammu, March 30
The Legislative Council today passed three Bills and returned them to the Legislative Assembly.

The Bills, passed by members with a voice vote, included a Bill to amend the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, moved by Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Sagar. The other two Bills were moved by Minister of State for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Ajaz Ahmed Khan and these includes a Bill to amend the laws governing the salaries and allowances of members, ministers and deputy ministers and the other Bill to amend the Jammu and Kashmir State Legislators Pension Act, 1984.

The Legislative Council also adopted three motions by voice vote, moved by Mohammad Rashid Qureshi of the NC, Murtaza Ahmed Khan of the PDP and Najib Suharwardy of the NC, who moved a motion on behalf of Abdul Gani Vakil of the Congress.

In the first motion, the Upper House, on the recommendations of the Legislative Assembly, agreed to elect two members from the Legislative Council to be associated with the Committee on Estimates for the period ending March 31, 2012.

The second motion was adopted on the recommendations of the Legislative Assembly under which the Upper House agreed to elect two of its members to be associated with the Committee on Public Accounts for the period ending March 31, 2012.

In the third motion, the House agreed to elect two members from the Legislative Council to be associated with the Committee on Public Undertakings for the period ending March 31, 2012.

Jammu, March 30
Legislators of the Upper House today “unitedly” grilled Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand over the issue of adulterated milk and other products being supplied in the state.

When the issue was raised by BR Kundal of the Congress during question hour, who asked about the steps initiated by the state government to check the sale of adulterated products, legislators from the opposition PDP as well as the ruling NC and Congress supported him and raised supplementary questions.

Even the acting chairman of the House, Arvinder Singh Micky, termed it a serious matter and sought appropriate action from the government in this regard.

The issue generated heat when the Deputy Chief Minister, in his reply, said, “The Jammu and Srinagar municipal corporations are looking into the issue and have taken samples to check the authenticity of milk and its byproducts.”

Dissatisfied over the reply, Kundal said, “It seems the government is only concerned about the capital cities and not the entire state as nothing has been stated about the other cities.”

Reacting to this, Tara Chand said, “I can only give you the details of the action taken in the capital cities as the list of the entire state is very long.”

He added, “The Jammu Municipal Corporation has collected 95 samples of milk from April 2010 to February 2011 under the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act, of which 73 samples confirmed to the legal standards, 12 were adulterated and the reports of the remaining 10 are awaited.”

“Similarly, in Srinagar five samples were found adulterated during the same period,” said Tara Chand. Ajat Shatru Singh of the NC said, “The government should take this issue seriously as it is directly related to public health.”

Srinagar, March 30
The police has ordered transfers and postings of 10 officers in the Prosecution Wing in the interests of the administration.

Giving details, an official spokesman said Mushtaq Ahmad Zaroo, in charge, Joint Director, has been posted as the in charge, Director, Prosecution Police Headquarters, against a clear vacancy. Daya Kirshan Hitashi, in charge, Deputy Director, has been posted as the in charge, Joint Director, Prosecution, Zonal Police Headquarters, Jammu. Mushtaq Ahmad Pandit, in charge, Deputy Director, has been posted as the in charge, Joint Director, Prosecution, Zonal Police Headquarters, Kashmir against a clear vacancy.

Mukhtar Ahmad Shah, in charge, Deputy Director, has been posted as the in charge, Joint Director, Prosecution, Vigilance, against a clear vacancy, while Tashi Rigzon, in charge, Deputy Director, has been posted as the in charge, Joint Director, Prosecution, CID against a clear vacancy. Rajesh Kumar Bakshi, in charge, Deputy Director, has been posted as the in charge, Deputy Director, Prosecution, Zonal Police Headquarters, Jammu, against a clear vacancy. Munshi Zulfkar Ahmad, in charge, Deputy Director, has been posted as the in charge, Deputy Director, Prosecution, TADA, Zonal Police Headquarters, Kashmir, against a clear vacancy. Peer Ghulam Mohammad, in charge, Deputy Director, has been posted as the in charge, Deputy Director, Prosecution, Zonal Police Headquarters, Kashmir, against the post of DDP, SKPA, Udhampur, till his retirement on March 31. Mohammad Ashraf Pandit, in charge, Deputy Director, has been posted as the in charge, Deputy Director, Prosecution, Zonal Police Headquarters, Kashmir, against clear vacancy while Sikander Mohan Kapoor, in charge, Deputy Director, has been posted as the in charge, Deputy Director, Prosecution, TADA Zonal Police headquarters, Jammu, against a clear vacancy.

The spokesman added that one post of Deputy Director, Prosecution, in the Police Headquarters, has been temporarily transferred to the CID Headquarters for withdrawal of salary of the then in charge, Deputy Director, Prosecution, Mushtaq Khan, for February 2011.

Jammu, March 30
Chief Secretary Madhav Lal reviewed the working of the Chief Minister’s monitoring cell at a high-level meeting of officials here yesterday.

The cell was constituted in July, 2010 and the main functions of the cell included inspection of mega projects in the state, monitoring the implementation of the meetings of the District Development Board and the Chief Minister’s interactions with the Deputy Commissioners and District Police Chiefs, besides monitoring reports of the third party monitoring agencies like NABCONS, McKinsey & Co etc. Addressing the meeting, the Chief Secretary asked for concentrating on the lessons drawn from such monitoring.

He urged the officials concerned to ensure that the shortcomings reported in the projects should not be repeated in the future projects. Lal asked the cell to check for the time-lines of the projects and the reasons of delays caused while evaluating them.

He also advised the monitoring cell officials to get user perspective from the people about whom a particular project or facility was meant.

The meeting was told that the monitoring cell had so far conducted evaluation of many big projects in the state and in the coming months, it was planning to inspect about 54 such projects.