Jammu, April 21
Over 77 per cent of voters cast their votes in the third phase of the panchayat elections held in the five blocks each of the Jammu region and the Kashmir province today. Nearly 82 per cent of voters exercised their right to franchise in the Ghagwal block of Samba district while as the voter turnout was nearly 72.69 per cent in the Ramnagar block of Udhampur district. Today’s elections were held for 246 panchayats in the 10 blocks of the state. For 246 posts of sarpanch and 1,868 posts of panch, 1,004 and 3431candidates (including 1,063 women candidates), respectively, were in the fray.

Although the elections are being held on a non-party basis, most of the candidates belong to different political groups. Political leaders, including ministers, had worked overtime to ensure the victory of their candidates. Today’s elections attached importance because they were held in the constituencies of Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Raman Bhalla and Industries and Commerce Minister Surjeet Singh Slathia.

The Congress received a setback, as one of the prominent party leaders, Thakur Dass, who was the party candidate from the Ramnagar segment in the last Assembly elections, came the poor third at Incha panchayat where he was contesting for the post of sarpanch. Ghulam Mohammad Bandey won the election here. Amrit Bali, a prominent Congress leader, won the election from the Bhour Camp West segment.

As the polling was to start at 8 am, voters were seen standing in queues before beginning of the polling. As 33 per cent of seats of panch have been reserved for women, a large number of women turned up to vote.

Rashida, a student of computer engineering, who was standing in a queue in the Badhori area, said the youth were very enthusiastic about participating in the elections as they sincerely wanted to do something for their villages. Akhil Chalotra, another youth, who voted at Smailpur village, said he casted vote for the first time in the 2008 Assembly elections. “Today’s elections are more important because I have direct relations with all candidates and I have to choose the best among them,’ he said. He stressed the need for conducting the panchayat elections every five years as it was the real form of democracy.

Tapyal (Samba), April 21
Going by the enthusiastic participation of the youth in the panchayat elections, it seems they have rejected divisive politics and taken up development as the key issue.

The panchayat elections, which are being held after a gap of 10 years, are attracting the maximum number of youth, as they are more concerned about the development of their villages than supporting the agenda of a few hardline separatist leaders.

“On an average, 80 per cent of the voters have exercised their right to vote in the Samba block,” KK Sidha, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Samba, said. “Above 90 per cent of the youth have cast their votes, as they were more enthusiastic from the day one of the election process,” he added.

Even candidates contesting for the posts of sarpanch and panch said when they were campaigning in their villages young voters asked them a number of questions regarding their manifestos and other development issues. “The youth don’t want to get involved in divisive politics. They only want development in their areas,” said Yashpal, who contested the elections for the post of sarpanch from Tapyal village. “Go and ask young voters what they want and they will tell you they want basic infrastructure in their villages and nothing else,” he added.

“We have nothing to do with the separatists or with the issues of any political party. We want basic facilities like schools, colleges and hospitals in our village and that is the reason behind the maximum participation of the youth in the elections,” said Ajit Singh, a resident of Rajpura village.

He added, “For the past seven years, the panchayats were lying dissolved and when the government gave us an opportunity to elect our own representatives, we should not miss it”. “Whenever we face any difficulty we have to approach the MLA or the MLC of the area to get our work done. But now these sarpanches and panches will be there to address our problems,” said Rashid Ahmed, a college student of Rajpura village.

In the earlier two phases of the panchayat elections, the participation of youths was recorded at the maximum.

Shalbug (Ganderbal), April 21
In a virtual snub to the separatists, the people here came out to vote in the third phase of the panchayat elections “for their own interests”. “These people (separatists) can only give boycott and strike calls. Despite the strike call by the separatists, we came out to vote to chose our representatives who could resolve the day-to-day problems of our area,” said Shabir Ahmed Dar, a voter in Shalbug village.

“Two decades of turmoil, strikes and boycott calls have yielded nothing and the common and poor people like us have been suffering. While the separatists are living in posh localities, the common people are deprived of roads, electricity, water and proper health care,” said Gulzar Ahmed Shah, another voter of the village.

The people of Ganderbal district, which is the home constituency of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, also expressed resentment against the Chief Minister saying he (Omar) had never visited their area after winning the Assembly elections. “When he (Omar) came to our village for votes he made several promises, but after winning the elections he had not fulfilled any promise. We are still among the poorest of poor. Our educated youth are without employment,” said Firdous Ahmed, a resident of the Ganderbal block.

The people in this central Kashmir district allege that there have been a lot of misappropriation of money in the distribution of work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), but they hope after electing their representatives they would get an equal share of the 100 days guaranteed employment.

“This time we have decided to vote for educated youth. One of our sarpanch candidates holds a masters degree in science. After electing our representatives, our youth can get employment for 100 days under the MGNREGA,” said Irshad Ahmed, a voter of the Haran block of the district.

Not only men but also a larger number of women were seen standing in long queues outside polling booths in the area, waiting for their turn to cast their votes to elect their representatives. “There are many domestic issues which the panchayat can resolve and that is why we want to elect good people who could take wise decisions,” said Khatji (40), a woman voter.

Five blocks in as many districts — Boniyar in Baramulla district, Chadoora in Budgam district, Ganderbal in Ganderbal district, Kulgam in Kulgam district and Kupwara in Kupwara district — went to polls in the Valley to elect a total of 177 sarpanches and 1,351 panches.

The chairman of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, had given a call for the boycott of the panchayat elections, but the three phases of elections held so far saw a remarkable turnout of the voters.

Jammu, April 21
Chief Secretary Madhav Lal today asked all heads of the Darbar Move Departments to ensure that their departments were ready with records on the day the Darbar opens at Srinagar.

He said the advance parties being dispatched by various departments should be directed to see that the records were intact, telephone lines were working and the IT facility was restored by May 9, the day when the offices would reopen in Srinagar.

Chairing a review meeting to oversee the arrangements for the ensuing Darbar Move, the Chief Secretary impressed upon the administrative secretaries to sensitise the advance parties of their departments about their responsibilities. He directed the Estates Department to provide appropriate office space to the newly-created human resource branches set up in some of the departments.

He also directed the IT Department to provide necessary IT software support to these branches so that they could start their work quickly. The Chief Secretary also directed setting up of a well-equipped video conferencing room at the Civil Secretariat, Srinagar. The meeting also took stock of security, sanitation, transport and water supply issues of the employees of the Darbar Move.

The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary to Chief Minister BB Vyas, Principal Secretary, Housing, Suresh Kumar; Commissioner Secretary, Power, Basharat Dhar; Commissioner Secretary, GAD, MS Khan; Commissioner Secretary, CAPD, Pradeep Gupta, and Secretary, IT, MK Dwivedi.

Jammu, April 21
The J&K Children’s Welfare Society organised a function to create awareness about female feoticide outside the Jammu Press Club here today.

Transport Minister Qamar Ali Akhoon was the chief guest on the occasion. The function was held under the chairmanship of Gurdeep Singh Sasan, chairman of the society and was attended by students of Gandhi Nagar Convent School, Madr-e-Meharban Institution and SD Tara Puri High School, Gandhi Nagar.

Sasan handed over cheques to the minister for further distribution to girls in Kargil district. He said the girls were adopted from Jammu district. He demanded an amendment to the PCPNDT Act and booking of offenders under Section 304 of the IPC, which was a non-bailable offence.

He demanded the formation of a state-level supervisory board for monitoring and reviewing the implementation of the Act in the state. He urged the government to regulate the sale of ultrasound machines and ensure that only registered clinics should use the machine.

The minister said the government was determined to eradicate the menace of sex determination and female foeticide. Akhoon assured the gathering that the government would deal sternly with the offenders and, if necessary, would amend the PCPNDT Act.

Udhampur, April 21
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today termed the initiative of the suspended Hurriyat Conference leader, Moulana Abbas Ansari, of meeting the Centre’s interlocutors as courageous and directed towards finding a solution to the Kashmir issue through dialogue.

Replying to questions by mediapersons during a visit to the Sher-i-Kashmir Police Academy (SKPA) here today, the Chief Minister lauded Moulana Ansari’s initiative of meeting the interlocutors in Srinagar yesterday.

Ansari and his party Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen was suspended from the moderate Hurriyat Conference minutes after he met the interlocutors. Unperturbed over his suspension, Ansari had since expressed willingness to talk to the panel of interlocutors again.

Omar, however, refused to comment on Ansari’s suspension saying it was an internal matter of the Hurriyat Conference. He asked the Hurriyat leadership to follow in the footsteps of Ansari and come forward for talks with the interlocutors. He added that dialogue and not gun was the way to find a solution to the Kashmir problem.

Earlier, the Chief Minister highlighted the need for bringing the Jammu and Kashmir State Juvenile Justice Act on a par with the National Act to remove impediments, if any, ensuring reform of juveniles rather than their detention. He was speaking at a workshop on ‘Juvenile Justice System’ organised by the police in collaboration with ‘Save the Children’, an NGO, at the police academy here. Omar called for notifying one official in each police station as the Juvenile Welfare Officer to look into the issues of juveniles.

“I want the Law Department to look into the provisions of both the Acts. If any gap is required to be filled in the state Act through a legislation, we should move towards that direction,” he said. He added that in his opinion no juvenile should be detained and in case there was no choice, the juvenile should get full justice and treatment so that he could be reformed and rehabilitated as a normal citizen.

The chairman of the Protection of Child Rights Commission, Delhi, Amod Kanth, and state DGP Kuldeep Khoda also spoke at the workshop. The Chief Minister also addressed the police personnel undergoing training at the academy and asked them to work with devotion and honesty. He also laid the foundation stone for the Rs 90 lakh indoor block at the academy. The ADGP, Law and Order, K Rajindra, ADGP Ram Lubaya, Deputy Commissioner, Udhampur, Baseer Ahmad Khan were also present on the occasion.