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Work on Tangmarg-Poonch route yet to start
Ration pilferage to be checked through GPS
Gujjars, Bakerwals to get additional supply of rations
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Restore normal gas supply from January 26, oil companies told
Nearly 1.5 crore tourists, pilgrims visited state in 2011
National award for Radio Kashmir Jammu
Workshop on soft skills for police held
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Work on Tangmarg-Poonch route yet to start
Jammu, January 24 While Mugal road, which connects the Shopian area of the Kashmir valley via Bafliaz of Poonch district, has been opened to traffic, the government had two years ago announced a new road project to connect the Loran Mandi area of Poonch with the Tangmarg area of the Valley. It was announced that the road would be completed within a stipulated time, but the work on the route is yet to be started. Addressing the first meeting of the State Tourism Advisory Committee (STAC), Chief Minister Omar Abdullah recently announced that his government had released Rs 40 lakh to the Border Road Organisation (BRO) for the preparation of a detailed project report (DPR) for a road from Tangmarg to Poonch. Interestingly, in 2010, Minister for Agriculture Ghulam Hassan Mir and Minister for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Raman Bhalla conducted a survey of this new route from the Valley side. After the survey, Bhalla had announced in July 2010 that the new project would be the shortest road to connect Poonch with the Valley. He had said the DPR had already been approved of this road and the government had successfully mobilised the funds for it also. “The first installment, Rs 10 crore, has already been sanctioned to the authorities concerned to start work on the 37-km road from Lohran to Tangmarg,” the minister said. He said the BRO had been assigned the job of constructing the new road and the work would be started within a couple of weeks. However, in 2010, the Revenue Minister had announced that the DPR of the project had been approved and the first installment had already been sanctioned, but recently the Chief Minister announced that Rs 40 lakh had been released to the BRO for the preparation of the DPR. The Chief Minister said the route would open a large chunk of far-flung areas for economic development. “This will also help to create an important tourist circuit for tourists and pilgrims,” he added. This circuit would open Buda Amarnathji, Nagali Sahib (Poonch), Shahdara Sharief (Rahouri), Shiv Khori, Ambaran, Geopatha, Gurudawara and Soni-Mahiwal sites in Akhnoor for tourists giving considerable boost to the tourism sector in these areas. Besides making announcement on Tangmarg-Poonch, the Chief Minister also discussed various steps in the first STAC meeting to tap tourism potential in the state. The meeting discussed various matters pertaining to the preparation of rules for providing incentives, strengthening of tourism development authorities, fast-tracking key projects, promotion campaign, skill development, public-private partnership, expansion of Jammu airport and operations of international flights from Srinagar airport. |
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Ration pilferage to be checked through GPS
Jammu, January 24 The department has decided to install Global Positioning System (GPS) in all the vehicles of the State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC), including buses, trucks and other load carriers, before transporting government ration from one place to another. “We have received several complaints regarding the pilferage of government ration in the state. To curb the menace, we have decided to transport government ration only through SRTC vehicles and for that purpose, the state government has also given its nod to install GPS in all the vehicles,” Minister for CA&PD and Transport Qamar Ali Akhoon said. So far, the government has engaged some private transporters for shifting ration and kerosene oil from one part of the state to another. The people in the far-off and remote areas of the state had been complaining pilferage of the government ration either by private transporters or middlemen. However, the government had written to the Centre for supplying an additional quota of ration for the state to meet the shortage of food commodities in the hilly and far-flung areas. “The installation of GPS in all the SRTC vehicles will help us in locating a particular vehicle while transporting government ration from one place to another. The pilferage of ration not only causes a loss to the state exchequer, but also deprives genuine beneficiaries from their rights,” Akhoon said. The minister said the government would initiate strict action against ration dealers, salesmen, supervisors or SRTC personals if they were found indulging in such kind of malpractice. Seeking people’s cooperation in supplementing government efforts to prevent pilferage of food grains for making the distribution network more accountable and transparent, he said the government would also cancel the license of ration dealers if they were found in possession of ration cards of consumers. “The people should not handover their ration cards to the dealers and keep them in their custody if they do not want to take public distribution ration from their depots,” he added. |
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Gujjars, Bakerwals to get additional supply of rations
Jammu, January 24 “Four districts of the state, Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban and Kupwara, are being covered under the scheme of additional quota of rations which the state government gets from the Centre. Besides, Gujjars, Bakerwals and minority communities will also be benefited under the scheme,” Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CA&PD) Department Qamar Ali Akhoon said. The minister said the government had also increased the scale of ration quota for people belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) and the Above Poverty Line (APL) categories. “We have increased the ration scale for BPL families from 35 kg to 50 kg per month in Kashmir Valley, while in the APL category it is 45 kg. In the Jammu region, we are providing 55 kg to BPL families and 35 kg to APL-category people. The scale of kerosene has also been enhanced up to 7 litres per ration card,” Akhoon said. Official sources said the state government had submitted a detailed projection plan to the Central government requesting for the release of additional ration quota. The sources said the Centre might concede the demand of the state government and might release 5,000 tonnes of additional ration quota to meet the shortfall. Asked about the projection plan, Akhoon said: “Though we had already received some additional quota of ration from the Central government, we are hopeful that the Centre will continue to support us and will release the additional supply as per the new census figures under the special category.” The minister said the population of the state had doubled in the past two decades which in turn had pushed up the consumption. But so far the state was getting the supply as per the 2001 Census. It might be placed here that the government was diverting the ration from APL category to BPL families, particularly living in the rural and far-flung areas of the state to meet the shortage. “Food grain shortage is a major issue haunting the administration and it is prevalent in almost all districts of the state, especially in the hilly and mountainous areas, forcing families to buy ration from private shops. The government has decided to dispatch additional supply of ration to these districts to meet the shortage of ration,” sources added. The sources said there were 60 lakh persons who were getting rations from the CA&PD Department depots across the state. There were nearly 6,000 sale depots in the state. |
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Restore normal gas supply from January 26, oil companies told
Srinagar, January 24 As a result, the government was forced to direct the oil companies to fill only five kg of gas in cylinders for domestic use. However, Minister for CAPD and Transport Qamar Ali Akhoon has directed the oil companies to restore normal gas supply (14.2 Kg) from January 26 onwards. The minister passed the orders while chairing a high-level meeting of officers of oil companies and CAPD officials here recently. Akhoon also asked the oil companies to ensure bulk supply of gas in future and told them to dump one month’s stock of gas cylinders in advance to meet any eventuality caused by inclement weather in addition to daily requirements. The minister also got feedback from the CAPD director about the supply position of food grains and other essential commodities. He claimed that kerosene was available in bulk in the Valley and presently, consumers were being given seven litres instead of average quota of five litres. Akhoon said orders were already in place to respective Deputy Commissioner/CAPD and other officers for curbing black marketing, hoarding and there were strict directions to take action against those shopkeepers who were taking undue benefit of the situation created by the recent snowfall. |
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Nearly 1.5 crore tourists, pilgrims visited state in 2011
Jammu, January 24 There was a decrease of 47 per cent in terrorist-related incidents in 2011 and the state saw the lowest violence in 22 years since militancy broke out in the state, they said. “As a result of our combined efforts, there has been discernible improvement in the situation. Militancy-related incidents continue to show a dwindling graph and were the lowest ever during the past 22 years of militancy,” DGP Kuldeep Khuda said today. While over 1 crore pilgrims visited the cave shrine of Vaishno Devi, 6.34 lakh pilgrims visited Amarnath shrine in the year. Similarly, 13 lakh foreign and 1.79 lakh domestic tourists visited Kashmir and Ladakh regions, respectively, besides four lakh tourists visiting Patnitop in Jammu during 2011, the officials added. Chief Minister Omar abdullah has impressed upon all the tourism stakeholders to put in place necessary preparatory measures jointly right from now for receiving a larger number of tourists in 2012. Around 1.15 crore pilgrims and tourists had visited Jammu and Kashmir in 2010 and over 1 crore pilgrims and tourists visited the state in 2009.
— PTI |
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Autorickshaw drivers fleece passengers at Katra
Katra, January 24 Sonu Kohli, a local resident, who was at the bus stand to receive his guests, said: “Mostly, outstation and foreign passengers fall prey to overcharging by autorickshaw drivers”. He said: “If you do not know the exact fare, you can assume that at the bus stand, the fare told to you by the autorickshaw drivers will be at least double of the actual fare.” Pilgrims to the holy town have been facing this problem for quite sometime. In most cases, visitors, especially tourists, are forced to give into the demands of autorickshaw drivers due to the lack of public transport. Mostly, pilgrims visiting Katra board autorickshaws from the main bus stand to Darshani Deodi and vice-versa, unknowingly that the autorickshaw they board is fleecing them by charging double the fair rate. The apathy of the department concerned is as such that they are still vacillating in implementing any viable policy for checking such autorickshaw drivers. Besides devotees and tourists, the local passengers who ferry by autorickshaws, are also duped by these drivers by charging exorbitant rates from them. Devoid of signboards indicating fares, distances and route, the drivers here charge arbitrarily without bothering about the laws. Around 900 autorickshaws in Katra are still operating without working meters with drivers resorting to overcharging and rude behavior towards passengers. The Assistant Road and Transport officer, Reasi, had in the past planned to streamline the routes and fares of autorickshaws in the holy town, but it has not been implemented till date. Additional Superintendent of Police, Katra, Mohan Lal, also admitted that in Katra town, there were hardly any autorickshaw which have meter. He added that: “We will be taking up the issue with the Road and Transport Department and no one will be allowed to violate the laws”. |
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National award for Radio Kashmir Jammu
Jammu, January 24 The RKJ’s Hindi magazine “Tawishi”, compiled, designed and edited by its Hindi officer, Manisha Sharma, was adjudged for the award among scores of entries received from other AIR stations across the country. Manisha said the RKJ’s award-winning magazine carries a detailed account of the activities undertaken by the station during the past one year for promotion and propagation of Hindi. The magazine also carries selected write-ups of celebrated writers of the region. This is not for the first time that the efforts of Manisha have borne the fruits. During her posting at Doordarshan, Srinagar, two years ago, she revived the Hindi wing, which was lying defunct there. “At a time when some employees were shying from promoting Hindi in Kashmir, I volunteered to work there,” the Hindi officer said. Sharing her experiences of working in Doordarshan, Srinagar, Manisha said despite many odds and some threats, employees there were keen to learn and work in Hindi. She, however, said a lot requires to be done in the Kashmir valley for the promotion of the national language. Daughter of Mahesh Sharma, a renowned drama writer of the state, Manisha said she was the only candidate from the state to fetch the national award for the institution where she is presently working. VP Yadav, station engineer, and Ravi Magotra, programme head, Radio Kashmir Jammu have appreciated the efforts of Manisha in bringing laurels to the station. |
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Workshop on soft skills for police held
Srinagar, January 24 The workshop was an apparent effort of the police to improve its image and dealings with the public after it drew flak over the handling of street protests during the 2010 summer unrest in the valley. The workshop that concluded recently was conducted by Jim Tull, who has taught executive education at Harvard University and delivers training programmes across the globe. “The purpose of the training was to introduce soft skills, such as negotiation and communication, listening skills, ethics and professional conduct based on a public-service mindset. The training also covered ethics in policing and applying soft skills in the context of community-based policing,” a police spokesperson said. In his valedictory address, Inspector-General of Police SM Sahai said, “The initiative taken by the police to train the soft skills of the officials at the cutting-edge level of the police force will be a permanent feature. The policemen are the servants of the people and they have to serve the people with a smiling face.” He hoped that the training and the lessons taken would trickle down to the police station levels so that the communication skills of the cops in the direct contact with general public were improved. About 50 officials from all districts of Kashmir Valley attended the five-day programme. “The training effort is meant to improve the professional ethics and conduct of police officials as they carryout their day-to-day duties. This initiative will seek to help build a more empathetic and people-friendly police. Each official trained will focus on improving their soft skills and taking a more empathetic approach towards community,” the police spokesperson said.
— OC |
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JAMMU DIARY
The state Tourism Department is never a champion in highlighting varied beauty of the state. There are so many spots in the state which are unknown to the world.
But where the government fails, a local website, jammulinks.com, has come to the forefront.
It has published and circulated the New Year calendar with excellent sceneries from different parts of the state. It seems the government should take cue and encourage more public participation in showcasing the state to the world. Panic among traffic rule
violators
Introduction of special cranes seems to have started yielding good results for the traffic police in the winter capital city as people are afraid that their vehicles would be towed away by these cranes if they park their vehicles in a haphazard manner. A simple siren sound is enough for the people to remove their illegally parked vehicles from the busy and congested roads. Three new cranes with under-lift hydraulic facilities have been deployed in Jammu to tow away illegally parked vehicles from public places and roads. These cause no damage to vehicles during its lifting, but they have created panic among traffic violators. Interestingly, there is also a virtual race going on among the drivers of these cranes as the traffic police has set the target of lifting at least 10 vehicles in a day. Hospital
construction troubles residents
The super-specialty hospital conceived under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna by the erstwhile NDA regime in 2004 is likely to be ready by March. But the construction of the hospital is causing a lot of inconvenience to the people commuting through the road as the construction of the hospital has led to the closure of the connecting road. The road witnessed traffic of buses and minibuses from the Akhnoor Road to reach the city area. For the past four months, these buses and minibuses have to opt for a detour which creates traffic jams on other routes as well. Bins dumped
in land earmarked for park
It seems that neither the people nor the administration of Jammu is much concerned about the beautiful outlook of the city. Jammu-based organisations are always ready with the sole agenda of discrimination with the region, but they hardly talk of the beautification of the temple city. A Jammu Development Authority (JDA) land alongside the riverbed was identified for the development of a park but shockingly the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) is using the post as its junkyard. A large number of defunct JMC garbage bins have been dumped there (see photo). Despite knowing the fact, the Jammu-based organisations have kept a mum and the authorities, like always, have closed their eyes to the
issue. (Contributed by Jupinderjit Singh, Arteev Sharma, Sonika Raina and Varun Suthra)
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