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War of words between NC, PDP gets
murkier Former Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Beig addresses a press conference in Jammu on Wednesday. A Tribune photograph
Sectt’s move to nail latecomers fails
State refuses to spare two CRPF battalions for
Naxal-hit areas
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Opt for self-employment schemes, Governor tells youth
Security beefed up in Jammu ahead of Navratras
Mehbooba opposes NC stand on NCTC
Geelani tells people to boycott municipal poll
Rajouri students not to get grace marks
'Traders suffered huge losses during Rajouri
unrest'
SCs not getting benefits of welfare schemes: BJP
Check distress sale of
Pandits’ property: MLA
Rafting competition A rafting team in action on the Chenab in Reasi on Wednesday. A Tribune photograph
ABVP leaders join Democratic Front
Usha Vohra lauds work of charitable trust
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War of words between NC, PDP gets
murkier
Jammu, March 21 A day after the NC levelled charges against former Deputy Chief Minister and senior leader of the PDP Muzaffar Hussain Beig of amassing huge wealth through illegal means, the latter today launched a counteroffensive against the ruling party and tried to “expose” the Abdullah family for betraying people of the state as well as the country to remain in power. Beig along with half a dozen legislators of the PDP today addressed a press conference to “expose” the NC.
Beig, while alleging that the Abdullah family had been indulging in amassing wealth through illegal means since 1947, demanded a judicial probe into the alleged assets of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah that were disproportionate to his known sources of income. “I am ready for any probe into my assets but there should be a high-level probe into the disproportionate assets of Abdullah,” he asserted. Terming National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah an opportunist, Beig alleged that the NC leadership had always bartered the interests of the state to remain in power. “It was Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah who had founded the Plebiscite Front in the state to challenge the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to the Union of India,” he pointed out and alleged that the NC leadership had sowed seeds of secession in Jammu and Kashmir for petty political interests. “During the elections to the Assembly in 1987, Farooq Abdullah had got the elections rigged. His victims included many young men like Yosuf Shah, who crossed over to Pakistan and is now the head of the United Jehad Council. The other victim was Yasin
Malik, who is now chairman of separatist group Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front,” he alleged.
Beig said, “The role of Omar Abdullah as Chief Minister is known to all.
Misgovernance, widespread corruption, murder of about 112 to 120 young boys and girls in Kashmir double talk on the AFSPA and unmatched hunger to remain in power reflect the failure of the present
dispensation.” Beig also alleged that the NC that had always tried to divide people of the state on basis of ethnicity to remain in power.
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Sectt’s move to nail latecomers fails
Jammu, March 21 Taking cognisance of “laxity and slackness” on the part of government departments, the General Administration Department (GAD) headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has warned all Administrative Secretaries to strictly monitor the biometric attendance of employees. Official sources said employees in the Civil Secretariat were deliberately not marking their attendance electronically. “Due to slackness on the part of heads of various departments, the instructions for implementation of bio-metric system in the Civil Secretariat are not being fully complied with. The departments are also not monitoring the attendance as a result of which employees — most of them habitual latecomers — are not marking their attendance on a daily basis,” the sources said. In September last, the government had introduced the bio-metric smart card attendance system to ensure punctuality and to streamline the functioning in both wings of the Civil Secretariat in Jammu and Srinagar. The system was part of the e-governance project sponsored by the Central government and it was installed with the help of Jammu and Kashmir Bank. Around 5,000 employees working in Civil Secretariat were issued smart cards for biometric attendance. The plan, which was conceived by the previous Congress-PDP government headed by Ghulam Nabi Azad, was aimed at tightening the noose around latecomers. The implementation of the project got delayed due to bureaucratic red tape. “The GAD had directed all administrative departments to monitor the attendance of all employees on a daily basis. The nodal officers of the departments concerned were asked to submit daily ‘electronic’ attendance to the Commissioner Secretary to the Government,” a senior officer of the GAD said while requesting anonymity. It was decided that all employees, especially habitual latecomers, attending their respective offices late by half an hour or more would be punished and their half-day casual leave would be deducted, the official disclosed. “The employees are not marking their attendance through the smart card system as they continue to adopt the old system of recording the attendance in writing. In this way, they are deceiving their seniors by remaining absent for hours together,” the official maintained.
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State refuses to spare two CRPF battalions for
Naxal-hit areas
Jammu, March 21 Highly placed sources told The Tribune that the Union Home Ministry had recently sent a communiqué to the state government asking it to spare at least two battalions of the world’s largest paramilitary force in order to deploy them in Naxal-hit areas. One battalion of the CRPF has 1,151 officers and personnel. In this context, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has even talked to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, the sources said. The state government cited its inability to spare two battalions, which had to be pulled out from twin capital cities of Srinagar and Jammu. Now, the matter has been postponed to the next Unified Headquarters meeting, said the sources. It may be stated here that in February last year, the then Union Home Secretary, G K Pillai, had divulged New Delhi’s plans to pull out nearly 10,000 paramilitary personnel from Jammu and Kashmir. Though the exercise had been initiated in consultation with the state, the Omar government refused to spare two battalions from the twin capital cities for the time being, said the sources. Following the Union Home Ministry’s directive, the CRPF last year had pulled out three battalions from the state which were then deployed in Naxal-hit areas, said a senior CRPF officer. The CRPF today has 52 battalions in Kashmir and 15 battalions in the Jammu region, he added. “The state government had plans to bring the Jammu and Kashmir Police to the forefront and reduce the presence of armed and paramilitary forces. In this context some progress had been made last year,” said a state Home Department official. He attributed the exercise to the continuous improvement of the security scenario in the state. In the past three years, the security scenario has improved in the state and against the backdrop of this change, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah wanted to reduce the presence of Central forces in the state, he said. However, the militancy-plagued state has certain limitations. “We can’t go beyond a certain limit,” he added.
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Opt for self-employment schemes, Governor tells youth
Jammu, March 21 The Governor lauded the cooperation between people of the area and the Army. He appreciated the good work being done by the Army, particularly under the Sadbhavana programme, for the benefit of the people living in border areas. He added that the Mandi-Loran area had tremendous scope for the promotion of tourism, which could go a long way in transforming the economy of the region and generate employment avenues. He said he would address the authorities concerned for improving road connectivity and putting in place tourism infrastructure in the area. The Governor distributed sewing machines among widows, destitute women and militancy victims of the area to enable them to earn their livelihood. He also announced Rs 1 lakh for the society to carry on welfare activities. A brief cultural programme was presented by schoolchildren on the occasion, based on the theme, national integration, patriotism and communal harmony. Deputations of the people of the area also met the Governor and presented a memoranda of demands. The Governor later visited Poonch and inaugurated a two-day employment fair at Government Degree College. He inspected 40 stalls put up by various departments, banks, NGOs, Army and the paramilitary forces to generate awareness about various employment schemes, particularly the Sher-i-Kashmir Employment and Welfare Programme for Youth. The Governor emphasised the need for enlarging awareness among youth about various self-employment schemes launched by the Central and the state governments. He observed that such employment fairs help in dissemination of information about various schemes for the benefit of the youth. He called upon the youth to take full advantage of such schemes and generate employment for themselves and also create employment avenues for others. The Governor presented mementos to four entrepreneurs for successfully running self-employment ventures. He interacted with them and hoped that the work being done by them would become inspiration for others. Later, on way to Jammu, he undertook an aerial reconnaissance of Mughal Road to take stock of the progress on the important road project connecting the border districts of Rajouri and Poonch with the Kashmir valley.
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Security beefed up in Jammu ahead of Navratras
Jammu, March 21 “The police has stepped up vigil in and around the capital city, deploying sufficient policemen, besides keeping quick reaction teams of the Special Operations Group in a state of preparedness to ensure an incident-free Navratras festival,” the sources added. The security has been increased around religious places and temples while random checking of vehicles has also been initiated, they maintained. “We have put in place all necessary arrangements and all vehicles entering the city are being thoroughly checked. Though there is no specific input related to any misadventure by militants and their sympathisers, yet we don’t want to take any chance,” a senior police officer said. He said all patrol vehicles and flying squads had been relocated in sufficient numbers to ensure fool-proof celebrations during Navratras. “The surveillance and intelligence network has also been upped,” he added. The officer maintained that policemen in civvies had also been deployed at crowded places and in busy markets.
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Mehbooba opposes NC stand on NCTC
Srinagar, March 21 Reiterating its strong opposition to the creation of the NCTC, a Centrally-controlled arrangement to fight terror, the PDP took strong exception to the voting by the NC members even as a major UPA component, Trinamool Congress, walked out in protest against the order. The PDP president, Mehbooba Mufti, while responding to the NC move, said the NCTC would have powers to arrest anyone anywhere without taking the state government into confidence on suspicion of anyone’s involvement in terror or conduct searches and seizures. This move, she said, was opposed by 10 Chief Ministers of the country and many political parties. She added that on the one hand the NC was talking of autonomy and revocation of laws like the AFSPA, and on the other hand it was supporting laws that would take away the last bit of authority with the state. The latest stance of the NC, she said, was reminiscent of Farooq Abdullah’s government being the first state to enforce the POTA in Jammu and Kashmir.
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Geelani tells people to boycott municipal poll
Srinagar, March 21 “India is using elections as a means to tell the world that it is an alternative to plebiscite. Therefore, I appeal to the people to boycott the municipal elections. It is my challenge that if political prisoners are released and curbs on our political activities are lifted, there will be less than two per cent polling,” Geelani said while addressing a press conference at his Hyderpora residence, where he remains under house arrest. “These elections cannot be termed fair, as I am being continuously kept under house arrest. This (election) is a one-sided police operation and instead of facing us politically, the government is using its power against us,” the separatist leader added. Alleging that the government wanted to “cover up the human rights violations under the garb of elections”, he said by participating in the scheduled elections people would “harm” the (separatist) movement. Terming the Army’s Sadbhavana programmes as a “conspiracy”, he urged the people not to send their children, especially girls on tours to other parts of the country under the programme. In an apparent reference to the recent communal tension in Rajouri, Geelani accused the government of “targeting” the Muslim majority areas of Jammu that had a “separatist leaning”. “The division of Jammu and Kashmir on communal lines is unacceptable to us. We have been living in harmony and it is our slogan that we would continue to live in harmony,” he added. |
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Rajouri students not to get grace marks
Jammu, March 21 Despite riots and curfew in the communally-sensitive district, students from Rajouri district had appeared in their Board exams. The decision of the department may come as a blow to students, who were expecting the government to take a softer stand, considering the harsh conditions under which they gave their exams. Most students had to travel on foot for 12 to 15 km to reach their exam centres. Others had to suffer power cuts, uncertainty and tension due to riots and imposition of curfew. “Most of my classmates had to travel on foot to reach their exam centres, which left them both mentally and physically tired. Even though we were allowed to appear in exams, the stress of curfew was enough,” said Sameer, a student from Rajouri. While student identity cards and exam hall slips acted as curfew passes for students, many students couldn’t write their exams well, as they were in a hurry to reach home due to the imposition of curfew. The stand taken by the government on granting grace marks to students will also mark an end to an endeavour of the teachers’ forum in Rajouri, who are planning to appeal to the government to provide some respite to students who faced hardships during the turmoil.
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'Traders suffered huge losses during Rajouri
unrest'
Rajouri, March 21 Due to the curfew the business establishments remained closed for eleven days, giving a setback to the economic sector of the area. However, he claimed that the local administration had completely failed to control the situation in the area. The losses suffered do not include the loss suffered by banks, government
sector and telecom companies, he said. Sources said both the private and government sector undertakings and banks in Rajouri had suffered a huge loss. Educational institutions in the area remained closed during the unrest, which affected the studies of students. The Boepar Mandal president added that traders’ association had met District Commissioner (DC),
Rajouri, regarding the issue. However, the DC had failed to fulfil their demands. He said a four member team was conducted by the DC,
Rajouri, for reviewing the property that had been damaged in the recent unrest in the district. The team includes an Executive Officer, Municipal Committee,
Rajouri, two members of the Public Works Department, RNB and a Tehsildar. The team has to submit its report within 15 days, he added.
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SCs not getting benefits of welfare schemes: BJP
Jammu, March 21 Addressing a public meeting in the Pucca Talab area of Jammu city, state president of the BJP Shamsher Singh Manhas said the SCs were the worst victims of the discriminatory policies being propagated by the successive state governments. “The SCs in Jammu have resentment against the NC-Congress coalition, as benefits of various Centrally-sponsored schemes launched for their welfare and uplift do not reach deserving families,” he alleged. Manhas added, “The scholarships for poor SC students are sanctioned, but not released on time.” Senior BJP leader Kavinder Gupta said during his tenure as the Mayor various projects were started for the development of colonies dominated by the SCs in Jammu city. — TNS
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Check distress sale of
Pandits’ property: MLA
Jammu, March 21 Participating in the debate on demands for grants for the Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation departments in the Assembly, Tarigami stressed the need to check distress sale of Kashmiri migrants’ property. Complaints in this regard should be got investigated by the CBI, he added. Tarigami also called for safeguarding evacuee property and sought a white paper on the present status of evacuee property in various parts of the state. He demanded that the authorities concerned should break the nexus between land mafia and revenue employees to check land-grabbing.
— TNS
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Rafting competition
Katra, March 21 “We have teams from the Army and the University
of Jammu among others,” Robin Singh Metha, Director of the Tourism Department, Jammu, said. He added that during the competition the teams would demonstrate
their steering skills and negotiating capacities over a 10-km stretch of
the Chenab. Declaring the competition open, Deputy Commissioner, Reasi, Sheetal Nanda said, “The state has an immense potential for adventure tourism
like trekking, rafting and mountaineering. This potential needs to be fully exploited to build a strong local economy.” Situated on the banks of the Chenab, Bharadhari is a favourite destination for mountaineers, trekkers, rock climbers and now, white water rafters.
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ABVP leaders join Democratic Front
Jammu, March 21 ABVP leaders said there was a need to bring some change in the political imbalances between Jammu and Kashmir. “The national political groups, including the Congress and BJP are playing power politics and are not concerned with the plight of people and interests of the Jammu region,” Abhishek said. He added, “There is a need to make a group which would have the potential to emerge as an alternative to the Congress and BJP for the people of Jammu.”
— TNS
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Usha Vohra lauds work of charitable trust
Jammu, March 21 She interacted with the management of the Trust and inquired about its activities. She was informed that since its establishment in 1990, the Trust had been arranging artificial limbs for persons with physical disabilities and organising camps for the same. The Trust also conducts free of cost eye camps and arranges surgery for patients suffering from various eye ailments. The Trust also performs marriages of poor, orphan and militancy-affected girls, besides working for the promotion of human values and spiritual heritage of the country. While lauding the good work being done by the Trust, the Governor’s wife announced Rs 50,000 on behalf of the Governor to the Trust for carrying out its activities.
— TNS
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The war of words between the National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party
is becoming murkier with every passing day as leaders of both parties have been levelling serious allegations against each other.
Six teams, including two from the Army, are participating in a two-day white water rafting competition that began at Bharadhari in Reasi yesterday.
The Tourism Department and the Indian Rafting Foundation have sponsored the event.
