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Focus on heritage preservation
Juvenile boards in distress? |
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Audit exposes non-disbursement of compensation
More projects on the anvil
jammu DIARY
Marital discord on rise among Kashmiri Pandits
Jams at Lakhanpur toll plaza to go
DC for lower prices of mutton
Udhampur round up
Chib visits Sonwar hospital
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Focus on heritage preservation
Jammu, April 19 Initiatives include setting up of a heritage development authority, which in turn will give much desired impetus to the preservation of state’s heritage in a scientific manner. Speaking after inaugurating a special exhibition, organised by the Archives, Archeology and Museums Department at Kala Kendra, here recently, Jora said the government had brought legislation in the state Assembly under which a heritage development authority (HDA) with the corpus fund of Rs 50 crore would be set up. He said to restore the old glory of Naagar Nagar (old Srinagar city), the government had submitted a project of Rs 50 crore to the Union Ministry of Tourism for approval. Jora went around exhibition halls and evinced keen interest in various manuscripts, paintings on display, depicting pristine cultural heritage of the state. He instructed the department concerned to organise such exhibitions and seminars in educational institutions so that students were made familiar with the state’s rich cultural heritage. During the exhibition, old and rare manuscripts, historical documents, miniature paintings dating back to 18th century were displayed. The visitors included students, scholars, writers and prominent citizens, who came in large numbers to view the specimen of the centuries-old handwritten and printed material and rare paintings of old period. Some of the important books that attracted the visitors included Shah Nama, Sikandar Nama, Mahabharta, Ramayana in Persian, photo album of the marriage of Maharaja Hari Singh, proposal for constructing railway line from Jammu to Srinagar in 1900, a rare copper plate regarding Tibeto-Kashmir traders. Besides, a huge collection of photographs of miniature paintings was also on display. Referring to the steps being taken up by the government to restore and protect state’s heritage property, Jora said 38 monuments had been declared protected and their conservation was being taken up in a phased manner. About cross-cultural plurality of the state, Jora said the artistic richness of under-renovation Mubarak Mandi Complex in Jammu, Haariparbat in Kashmir and Buddhist monasteries in Ladakh were apt indicators of state’s depth and diversity in culture. He said all three regions of the state had their own distinct cultural heritage, which was being protected and showcased as heritage tourism. He called upon the authorities to flag heritage tourism in such a way that would help it to dovetail with the tourism sector for promotion. Jora said: Archives are the lifeline of our past, present and future. It needs to be preserved at all costs for the future generation”. He said effective steps have been initiated to digitise historical documents and records in three archive repositories of Srinagar, Jammu and Ladakh. He said over 1 lakh historical documents and records lying in these repositories had been digitised so far and the rest were also being digitised in a phased manner. |
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Juvenile boards in distress?
Jammu, April 19 Sources said due to non-functioning of the boards, constituted under the Jammu and Kashmir Juvenile Justice Act 1997, many issues concerning juveniles continued to be unaddressed. A district board comprises deputy commissioner, tehsildar, chief medical officer, social welfare officer, assistant labour commissioner and public activists. Sources said due to preoccupations with other assignments babus had not been able to spare time for juveniles. Due to lackadaisical attitude of the government, the proposals for setting up a juvenile court, juvenile homes, special homes, observation homes and aftercare organisations have been hanging fire for many years. The board functions as a Bench of magistrates and has the powers conferred by the code of criminal procedures, Samvat 1989 on a chief judicial magistrate or the judicial magistrate of first class. Call it an irony, the JWB of Jammu district does not even have an office to carry out its operations. Earlier, the then DC would hold board meetings at his office, but the sources revealed that for the past five months board meetings had not been convened. The plight of other district boards is no different. “The juvenile Act makes it mandatory on part of the board to hold meetings on a daily basis, but the rules are not being followed,” said a social activist working for the rehabilitation of abandoned children. “We have been facing problems arranging shelter for abandoned children and newborns. Basically, it is the job of the board but it exists on paper only,” added. Rakesh Vaid, a board member and assistant labour commissioner, Jammu, said: “Holding board meetings is the prerogative of its chairman. I am one of the board members who attend the meetings only when invited”. When asked about the month in which last meeting was held, he said: “I cannot recall, you better ask the chairman”. CMO Baldev Raj, who is also a board member, said: “The board has not been convening meetings for the past one and half month. Only chairman of the board can tell you the reason”. Atul Gupta, district social welfare officer, Jammu, maintained that meetings were not being convened due to ongoing panchayat elections. “In our earlier meetings, we had sent proposal to the government for allotment of land for the board offices. The board has also proposed for juvenile court and homes besides observation homes.” “The last meeting was held in November or December in which decisions taken in the previous meeting were reviewed,” said another member of the board, advocate Deepika Thussoo. “Even issues related to the custody of many abandoned children are long overdue as the board is not meeting,” she said. Sanjeev Verma, chairman of the board, and Jammu DC, was not available for comments.
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Audit exposes non-disbursement of compensation
Jammu, April 19 Despite the fact that funds have been released out of the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for early disbursement, casual attitude is being adopted even in disbursing relief to those people whose houses were damaged. The audit conducted by the government to assess progress of the developmental activities in the border district of Rajouri revealed that even the compensation released from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund was not properly disbursed. Ironically, the affected people have been waiting for the relief for the past more than a decade. According to the audit report, due to border tension and shelling in December 2001, 1,834 families were affected and later migrated from Nowshera tehsil of the Rajouri district. “Initially an amount of Rs 26 lakh was released to provide them relief, out of which Rs 19.48 lakh is lying unspent in the office of the Deputy Commissioner,” the report stated. As per the list of the houses collapsed due to shelling from across the border, the total requirement of relief for repair and renovation of 336 houses was worked out to be Rs 74.76 lakh. Accordingly, the government had released Rs 55.28 lakh in September 2007 from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. “Out of the available amount, the administration could not arrange payment of relief to the affected families for the want of certain clarifications on the issues related to sanction and payment of ex-gratia relief. Thus, the ex-gratia relief had not been distributed amongst the affected population and was locked up in bank accounts,” the audit report stated. After attack on Parliament, many families living on the International Border and Line of Control had migrated to safer places due to intense shelling from across the border. Many have been waiting for the compensation of their damaged houses. Some political parties had promised to allot alternative land to the residents along border areas so that they could construct alternative houses in the safer areas, but these promises also remained on papers. |
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More projects on the anvil
Srinagar, April 19 Dr Asgar Samoon, Divisional Commissioner (DC), Kashmir, was the chief guest on the occasion. In his presidential address, the DC said the government had taken up several steps to preserve the rich heritage of Kashmir. “We will revive all heritage sites and soon the government would launch massive projects to preserve our heritage,” he said. The DC appreciated the department for preserving the precious artefacts, coins and crafts that date back to centuries. He said: “We have preserved the heritage acquired from our predecessors to a large extent and we should complement ourselves for that. This museum stands a testimony to this fact.” The Divisional Commissioner advocated for inclusion of heritage as a subject in the educational curriculum. “We are responsible for the loss of heritage and our future generations will hold us accountable for that,” he added. |
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Panchayat poll and children
Even children are seen indulging in the entire process. Be it campaigning for their “admirable” candidate, pasting their posters or celebrating the victory of a sarpanch and panch candidates, they are a party to everything. Their area of activity is also not restricted by any specification. Many enthusiastic children have even been accompanying their parents inside the polling stations (see picture). It seems that they are in no mood to miss any event related to the election process. Politics of hello tune
All 11 MLAs of the BJP have been facing the wrath of the people after seven party legislators did cross-voting in the favour of Congress and National Conference candidates in the legislative council elections. Some of the MLAs have changed their hello tunes of their cellphones to get sympathy and prove themselves honest. One of the MLAs has changed his tune and set a song of a famous movie “Jhumroo” of 1961. He set the song “Koi Humdam Naa Raha Koi Sahara Naa Raha Hum Kisi Ke Naa Rahe Koi Humara Naa Raha” as his hello tune. Within few hours, his new tune became a hot topic among BJP leaders. Ultimately, he was forced to change it. Contributed by Ashutosh
Sharma and Dinesh Manhotra |
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Marital discord on rise among Kashmiri Pandits
Jammu, April 19 These two vital issues are a matter of great concern for the community leadership who is trying to find out ways and means in a bid to check them.
Justice Hali referred to filing of a number of divorce petitions by mismatched Kashmiri Pandit couples in the courts here and said such instances were penetrating in society with alarming proportion. He asked the community members to emulate Pt RN Kaul, a philanthropist and a well-known advocate of yesteryears, who had played a remarkable role in reforming society from social evils. Moti Kaul, chairman of the trust, and president of the All-India Kashmiri Samaj (AIKS), while expressing concern over neglect of elderly members of the community for varied reasons, announced that a recreation centre would soon be set up here for them. He also referred to the rise in the number of martial discords, which were uncommon prior to the exodus of the community from Kashmir. There was also a mention of the increase in divorce rate among the community in a report submitted by the J&K Centre for Minority Studies (CMS) to the state government a few years ago. As per the report, out of the total 250 divorce petitions filed in the state in 1995, 30 were from KP couples. In 2001, the total number of divorce petitions that had come before the courts was 976 of which 300 (30 per cent) were from KPs. The figures had further suggested an unprecedented increase during the corresponding years, as in 2002, out of the total 600 divorce petitions filed in the state, 200 were from KP youth in the age group of 25 to 40. The report had also mentioned that in 2003, over 40 per cent petitions were filed by migrant community youth, mostly by the Pandit women. Since then, there had been no end to such cases. Further, it was mentioned in the report that in the absence of joint family system, through which elders used to intervene constructively to sort out problems, the couples were finding themselves unable to make minor adjustments and settle certain differences.
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Jams at Lakhanpur toll plaza to go
Jammu, April 19 Lakhanpur, which shares its border with the neighbouring state of Punjab, is the main entry point for surface transport and all commercial or private vehicles entering or leaving the state. for the convince of the commuters, the government has created parking lots for 240 trucks, shelter sheds for drivers, recreational building, animal husbandry complex, banking facilities, canteens, sanitation blocks and power and water supply installations there. The new toll plaza is spread on an area of 156 kanals and another 108 kanals will be obtained from the railways. A senior official of the Finance Department said out of the estimated cost of Rs 32.20 crore, Rs 28.48 crore has been spent so far. Revenue realisation at Lakhanpur toll during 2010-11 has been Rs 249.82 crore as compared to Rs 208.92 crore during 2009-10, thus, showing a growth of 19.58 per cent. Even the taxable imports were recorded at Rs 25,125 crore in 2010-11 and exports during this period were Rs 13,777 crore. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had recently visited Lakhanpur to inspect the construction work of the new toll plaza and told the officials concerned to complete it at the earliest.
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DC for lower prices of mutton
Srinagar, April 19 The DC said the government was adamant on resolving the issue. “We cannot wait and watch as mutton was not a luxury item but an essential commodity in Kashmir.” He urged the dealers to come forward immediately as people were facing inconveniences due to unavailability of mutton. Mutton dealers put forth their grievances before the DC for their immediate redressal. The government asked the dealers to resolve their issues by April 21, when the next meeting was scheduled to take place. The DC also appealed the dealers to ensure the availability of mutton for patients and needy until this issue was resolved. He said a slaughter house at a cost of Rs 40 crore was coming up at Tengpora, Srinagar. Over 4 lakh people were associated with the mutton trade and wholesalers make a profit of around Rs 20,000 per truck of sheep imported into the Valley. As many as 30 truck loaded of sheeps were imported a day in the Valley. Director, CAPD, AW Tak; director, Sheep Husbandry, Dr BR Kotwal; director, Animal Husbandry, Dr MA Chisti; President, Kothdar Association, Manzoor Ahmed Kangoo; and president, Retail Mutton Dealers Association, Khazir Mohd Regoo, were among those who attended the meeting.
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Fire department organises drawing competition
Raju William Tribune News Service
Udhampur, April 19 The participating schools included National Academy High School, Udhampur; Vivck Niketan High School; Bhartiya Vidya Mandir Academy; KC Gurukul; Government Central Middle School; Government Girls High School (City); and DAV School. The Assistant Director (F&ES) Command Udhampur-Reasi, RC Raina was the chief guest on the occasion. Rahil Meer of Vivek Niketan High School stood first in the competition while Sarthak of KC Gurukul, Jakhar Udhampur, and Tarun Sachdev of National Academy High School were adjudged second and third in the competition, respectively. Green silk cocoon auction begins
The Sericulture Development Department, Udhampur, has started the auction of green silk cocoons produced in district from April 18, 2011. On the first day, 258 kg cocoons were auctioned at an average rate of Rs 168 per kg. The highest bid of Rs 202 per kg was received by the 14.4-kg lot of Pritam Chand of Thill village. It may be mentioned here that there are about 6,000 farmers associated with sericulture in the district. A silk worm’s body temperature is regulated by the atmospheric temperature. At low temperature the worm’s body becomes inactive to spin cocoon. Deputy Director (Sericulture), Udhampur, Aman Ullah Sheikh has advised the rearers, whose worms are at a spinning stage or approaching spinning, to keep the rearing room warm at 25C-27C so that worms spin easily. The rearers should use dry mounting material like paddy grass dry eucalyptus branches etc. to get good stainless cocoons which fetch good prices, he added. Devika Baisakhi Mela
Over 1.50 lakh visitors of all faiths took part in the three-day Baisakhi mela being observed at Udhampur every year, which concluded with traditional fervour and gaiety here. The mela is celebrated on the banks of Devika rivulet having many temples. The visitors, in addition to enjoying festivities of the mela, offer prayers at these temples. The owners of food and amusement stall did a brisk business owing to unprecedented rush of people at the mela. The Information Department, Udhampur, also arranged cultural programmes besides showing film on places of tourist and historic interest of the district. Like last year, the district administration had also made adequate arrangements of barricading, security, sanitation, first-aid, drinking water and power supply. Various departments had put up their stalls for the awareness of common masses about various government sponsored schemes meant for the benefit of the people. Training of polling staff held
A training programme for the presiding and polling officers of block Ramnagar for the panchayat elections was held at Government Higher Secondary School, Ramnagar. As many as 172 presiding officers and 344 polling officers were imparted training and guidance for conducting the ensuing panchayat election to be held on April 21 for the Ramnagar block. The Block Development Officer (BDO), Ramnagar, gave live demonstration of how to operate ballot boxes and other poll-related material. The staff would be provided election material on April 20. Meanwhile, an introduction-cum-demonstration meet of the polling staff engaged in Block Dudu- Basantgarh for Panchayat Election was organised in Town Hall, Udhampur. The BDO, Dudu-Basantgarh, imparted the necessary training to the polling staff for the fair and smooth conduct of the election. |
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Chib visits Sonwar hospital
Srinagar, April 19 Chib also inaugurated a paediatric emergency ward at the hospital. The medical superintendent of the hospital apprised the minister about various issues and developmental works. The minister said improving the health care of the state was government’s top priority. The primary health care of the state had been adjudged as numero uno in the country, he said. “In view of the huge rush of patients in various hospitals of Srinagar, including GB Pant Hospital, the government is committed to improve the infrastructure and the facilities of the district and sub-district hospitals,” he said. Chib added that the land had been identified for a 400-bed hospital in Bemina in which 200 beds will be dedicated for children. The minister gave a patient hearing to the grievances of patients and assured them immediate redressal. “We cannot ignore people’s grievances and we will attend to them for which we are committed.” The minister also directed the hospital authorities to provide blood to patients who are in immediate need for it and cannot pay for the same. “We cannot be selective for such cases and can also arrange blood from other centres for emergency purposes to save the precious lives,” he added. |
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Jammu, April 19
Due to border tension in December 2001, 1,834 families were affected. Initially, Rs 26 lakh was released to provide them relief. However Rs 19.48 lakh is still lying with the office of the deputy commissioner
The ongoing Panchayat elections have been drawing an overwhelming response in villages across the state.
Speaking at a function organised by Pt RN Kaul Memorial Trust here recently, Justice Sunil Hali impressed upon NGOs to come forward and work on the social front so that both these issues were addressed urgently. The function was attended by top community leadership, doctors, poets, intellectuals, scholars and mediapersons.