|
|
|
|
|
State failed to honour pact with
Centre on growth projects: CM
Govt looking for excuses to delay civic bodies elections: Mufti
|
|
|
Unveiling of Maharaja Hari Singh’s statue
JKPSC comes under scanner of Council
State sees 210% increase in four-wheelers in 10 years
Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan
Employee suspended for sleeping on job
Srinagar-Sonamarg road reopened
Farmers protest against closure of Ranbir Canal for 120 days
PDP flays govt for ‘failure’ to trace engineer
Kashmiri Pandits protest against illegal sale of temple complex
Ponywalas up in arms against Katra MC
Assembly panel pulls up Social Welfare Dept
CRPF recruitment rally begins for
Rajouri, Poonch
Man killed, another injured in road mishap
|
|
State failed to honour pact with
Centre on growth projects: CM
Jammu, April 2 In the midst of the hullabaloo created by the Jammu-based legislators over the “tardy and sluggish pace” of development activities in Jammu city during Question Hour in the Assembly, the Chief Minister put the blame on the legislators for opposing the Property Tax Bill, which was introduced by the government during the last session of the state legislature. “We all are responsible for the continuous delay in completion of sewerage projects in both cities. There is no dearth of funds for the works being executed by the Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA), but the works under the JNNURM scheme are being delayed as the Centre has stopped the funds following indecisiveness of the state on the Property Tax Bill,” Omar said. The Chief Minister said the state government had signed an agreement with the Union government before these projects were started but the state had failed to implement that agreement. “The state had to pass the Property Tax Bill for getting liberal funding from the Centre under the JNNURM but we have failed in doing so, which has turned out to be main reason for the withholding of funds by the Centre,” Omar said. He said the Bill was referred to the Select Committee after stiff resistance as a “wrong projection” was given outside that the government was bent upon increasing the house tax. “Till the government passes the Bill, the Centre will not release the funds under the JNNURM to the state, which will further cause delay in completion of these projects,” Omar maintained. The Chief Minister appealed to all legislators to bring the Bill back to the Assembly and vote in its
favour. “We never intended to increase the house tax in both capital cities. Our intention was to bring down the ceiling on house rent. The decision on whether to increase or decrease the house tax will be taken by the municipal bodies after elections to the urban local bodies in the state,” he asserted. Leader of Opposition in the House Mehbooba Mufti contested the statement of the Chief Minister, saying: “The government has the majority and it can pass any legislation or Bill without any problem. It is an excuse that the money is withheld by the Union government but the fact is that the money meant for various development activities in Srinagar city remained unspent.” Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development Department Nasir Aslam Wani however dared the opposition leader and asked her to give in writing the details of the unspent amount. Earlier, Jammu-based legislators, including Ashok Khajuria, Jugal Kishore Sharma and Chaman Lal Gupta grilled the government for “faulty and unplanned” development activities being undertaken in the city. |
||
|
Govt looking for excuses to delay civic bodies elections: Mufti
Jammu, April 2 The local bodies elections, including elections to the Jammu and Srinagar Municipal Corporations were scheduled to be held in the February 2010, but the government has been delaying the elections for the last two years. The PDP and BJP have kicked-started the campaign for the elections, but the ruling National Conference (NC) and Congress seem to be in no hurry to conduct the elections. Sources said during their meeting with Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Sunday, Congress leaders said the situation was not conducive for holding the local bodies elections. They urged upon the Union Minister to ask the state government not to conduct the civic bodies elections. Although Azad had not made any commitment to leaders, who were demanding the postponement of the civic bodies elections, the sources said local Congress leadership had decided to oppose any move to conduct the elections at this juncture. Some Congress leaders said the electoral rolls were full of discrepancies so it was not possible to conduct the civic bodies elections at this time. The principle opposition party PDP today warned that such attitude of the government would prove disastrous for the state, where other democratic institutions had already been undermined by the ruling coalition. Addressing a meeting of PDP workers at Bishnah today, former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed questioned the intension of the state government to hold the civic bodies elections. He said instead of taking some steps to strengthen the democracy at the grass-roots level, the state government was looking for excuses to delay the elections. “I fail to understand why the government is shying away from its duty of conducting the elections. The formation of the civic bodies is must to empower the people of urban areas,” Mufti said and added that in a democratic system participation of the people was necessary in democratic institutions. He warned that his party would strongly oppose the gimmick of the ruling NC to undermine the democratic institutions and to control these institutions through deceit tactics. “We will agitate for strengthening the democratic institutions in the state,” Mufti said. |
||
|
Unveiling of Maharaja Hari Singh’s statue
Jammu, April 2 As soon as the House assembled this morning, BJP legislator Jugal Kishore Sharma raised the issue and expressed his anguish over the “politicisation” of the function. He said representatives of all political, social and religious organisations should have been involved in the function but the organisers adopted a pick-and-choose policy. As Sharma was raising the issue, lone member of the Jammu State Morcha (JSM) Ashwani Kumar also stood up on his seat and said people of the state had great respect and regard for the late Maharaja but a political party (the Congress) had tried to hijack the function which was held to commemorate the great ruler. “It is very unfortunate that the organisers had ignored the majority of the social, religious and political organisations,” he maintained, adding that Maharaja Hari Singh belonged to the whole state of Jammu and Kashmir and not to a particular party. Panthers Party member Balwant Singh Mankotia expressed his anguish over the unveiling of the statue of the great leader on April 1. “I fail to understand why April 1 was chosen as the day to unveil the statue,” he said. Ashwani said that by hijacking Sunday’s function, the organisers had undermined the stature of Maharaja Hari Singh. Later talking to mediapersons outside the Assembly, Ashwani questioned the decision of National Conference leaders to stay away from the function. “The National Conference is heading the coalition government and the official function held on Sunday to unveil the statue of the Maharaja was organised by the Housing and Urban Development Department but not even a single NC leader or minister was present at the function,” he said. He also sought a reply from the Congress leadership in this regard. Sculptor not invited, feels humiliated The statue of Maharaja was unveiled yesterday by Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and MP Karan Singh. “I felt humiliated because for the past eight months I have been working overtime to complete the statue and I was not invited to the function held to unveil the statue,” a visibly upset Jamwal said. “As the statue was scheduled to be unveiled on Sunday afternoon, I worked till Saturday midnight to give finishing touches to it,” he said, adding that he was shocked when none of the organisers asked him to attend the function. |
||
|
JKPSC comes under scanner of Council
Jammu, April 2 What was more embarrassing for the government was the fact that National Conference MLC Ajay Sadhotra smelt the rat in the autonomous body. “It is very unfortunate that the JKPSC hasn’t prepared service rules for its employees as yet,” he said. Sadhotra also sought to know that how many casual, need-based and consolidated employees had been engaged by the JKPSC. As soon as Sadhotra finished his supplementary queries, other members inundated the Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather with their questions. Rather was responding on behalf of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. Bashir Ahmed Veeri wanted to know under which specific order 13 class-IV employees were appointed while Javed Ahmed Rana was more interested in knowing the break-up of SC, ST and RBA candidates among the selected employees. While Sadhotra and Rana didn’t get any replies to their specific queries, the Finance Minister also felt that service rules should be prepared. He, however, made it clear that 13 appointments of class-IV employees were made from 2000 to 2006. “After 2006 not a single appointment has been made till date,” he said. He said class-IV employees in the Commission had been appointed out of the casual labourers engaged from time to time with due regard to their good conduct and integrity, essential for a sensitive organisation like the JKPSC. |
||
|
State sees 210% increase in four-wheelers in 10 years
Srinagar, April 2 Similarly, the number of two-wheelers (scooters/ motorcycles) across the state has increased by 114.8 per cent. While there were 121,188 two-wheelers in 2001, the number has risen to 2,60,306 in 2011. The number of bicycles has increased from 198,324 in 2001 to 2,08,108 in 2011. The number of television sets owned by the residents has witnessed a rise of 62.87 per cent. In 2011, the findings reveal that 10,28,155 televisions were owned by the people across the state as compared to 6,31,256 in 2001. On the contrary, the number of transistors owned has witnessed a decline of 5.95 per cent. While there were 10,10,563 transistors in 2001, the number has decreased to 9,50,425 in 2011. For the first time, the census department has counted the number of computer and laptops. While 110,383 computers/ laptops were found functioning without Internet connections, 57,977 computers/ laptops had Internet connections. As per the findings, there are 11,94,854 mobile phones and 72,820 landline connections in the state. According to Joint Chief Principal Census Officer CS Saproo, the census exercise was carried out by 27,000 enumerators under the supervision of deputy commissioners of respective districts of the state. |
||
|
Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan
Jammu, April 2 Sources said the Central government has also asked the state to submit a detailed report on the progress of the SSA, which was implemented in the state in 2005. Officials said in certain cases the Village Education Committees (VECs) constituted by the government had failed to keep track of the works undertaken in the respective zones, leading to misappropriation of funds. Though the VECs are an important constituent of the SSA project as they consist of elected public representatives and MLAs of the respective areas, in Jammu and Kashmir they have failed to ensure transparency. “At times the VECs are not consulted and they remain mute spectators to poor implementation of the projects in villages and blocks. There is large-scale bungling of funds by contractors and some corrupt officials belonging to the education department associated with the project,” said an official source. Monitoring has become necessary as the Central government has expressed its concern over the way the SSA, meant to upgrade elementary schools, has been implemented across the state. A few months ago the government had decided to take disciplinary action against a few field officials found involved in ignoring the norms set by the Project Appraisal Board (PAB), constituted by the Central government for opening and upgrading schools under the SSA in the state. When contacted, Yasha Mudgal, State Project Director, SSA, said, “We have floated tenders and sought expression of interest (EoI) for third-party monitoring of all SSA works in different districts. The selected companies will use their equipment and expertise to test the material used in the construction.” Mudgal said a detailed report would be submitted to the government, which would leave no chance for any tempering so that suitable action could be taken against the people involved. “The construction work is being allotted to contractors who are mostly connected to politicians and officers of the education department. The VECs are at times totally defunct,” a source claimed. |
||
|
Employee suspended for sleeping on job
Srinagar, April 2 A team of senior JKHPMC officials conducted a surprise check at their sales counter located at the Islamic University of Science and Technology, Awantipora, yesterday and found Sales Assistant B A Shah and helper Nissar Ahmad Dugga sleeping. An official here said the duo were found sleeping on a carpet “placed unauthorisedly" at the centre. While both employees of the government-run corporation were fined two per cent of their gross salaries, Shah was placed under suspension with immediate effect. The helper was found sleeping without wearing his cap and apron. Two other employees identified as Field Assistant Fayaz Ahmad Bhat and Assistant Auctioneer Abdul Qayoom Mantoo were also placed under suspension for being absent from duty. The JKHPMC employees were warned that if they remained idle while on duty, their salaries would not be paid under the rules of the corporation.
|
||
|
Srinagar-Sonamarg road reopened
Srinagar, April 2 The Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Asgar Hassan Samoon declared the road open to traffic at Gaganeer. The road had been closed for vehicular traffic on December 7 last year. The Divisional Commissioner also inspected the progress of snow clearance on Sonamarg-Zojila-Gumri road and appreciated the efforts put in by the Beacon for road clearance. The Chief Engineer, Beacon, said the Zojila road was likely to be reopened by the first week of May. Others present on the occasion were Deputy Commissioner, Ganderbal, Showkat Ahmad Mir; Director, Tourism, Farooq Ahmad Shah; Chief Engineer, Beacon, Brig TPS Rawat; Chief Executive Officer, Sonamarg Development Authority, Mohammad Yousuf; and SSP, Ganderbal, Shahid Meraj. On the occasion, a cultural programme was organised by the Tourism Department at Gagangeer. Tourists and locals have appreciated the reopening of the road since Sonamarg is a preferred destination for tourists. |
||
|
Farmers protest against closure of Ranbir Canal for 120 days
Jammu, April 2 Various kisan organisations under the banner of the Kissan Association Front, Jammu and Kashmir, held a protest demonstration over the issue outside the Press Club here. “The government stops the water of Ranbir Canal for 120 days every year for repair and cleaning work, whereas it takes only 20 days to get the work done. For over three months, the crops here remain devoid of irrigation,” said Tejinder Singh, coordinator of the front. “The repair period of the canal should be fixed for 30 days and so that crops can get timely irrigation. The participatory irrigation management Act should also be introduced in the state,” he added. The agitating farmers demanded a high-level inquiry into the tube well irrigation and lift irrigation schemes implemented in the Jammu region. Crores of rupees have been spent on tube wells in villages but they are not working properly, they alleged. The farmers said that during the last couple of years no quality work had been done for the maintenance and upkeep of the irrigation system in the Jammu region. The front warned the government that if it did not take steps to improve irrigation facilities, farmers would come out on roads to fight for their rights. |
||
|
PDP flays govt for ‘failure’ to trace engineer
Jammu, April 2 He demanded the early restoration of the engineer to his family, which had been shuttling from one place to another, seeking help from the government. As soon as the Upper House assembled here this morning, Khan sought the attention of the Chairman, Amrit Malhotra, saying, “It is a human issue and hence needs the immediate attention of the government.” However, NC MLC Ajay Sadhotra intervened and said the issue had already been taken up via a question and the minister concerned had already responded to it. So the issue cannot be raised again. This infuriated Khan, who on the top of his voice, said the engineer has been missing from his home for the past over a month and a half. “Don’t ignore my question and direct the government to take cognisance,” Khan said to the Speaker. The Chairman, however, asked Khan to raise the issue during Zero Hour. During Zero Hour, Khan said he did not need a reply from the government. “We want this person to be alive, safe and secure back in his home. He belongs to the minority community and hence the government should do everything possible to trace him and restore the confidence of the community,” said the PDP MLC. In this context, he again sought a direction from the Chair to the government. However, the Chairman sought details from Khan to take up the issue with the government. Jagdeep Singh Bali, an engineer with the Public Health Engineering Department, has been missing from his Magarmal Bagh home in Srinagar since February 18. The state police, which has announced a cash reward of Rs 10,000 for information leading to the whereabouts of the missing engineer, has also started a search for the missing engineer in Amritsar and Chandigarh. |
||
|
Kashmiri Pandits protest against illegal sale of temple complex
Jammu, April 2 The Kashmiri Pandits from Rainawari, Srinagar, who live in Jammu, were protesting against the alleged illegal sale of the land of Vaitaal Bhairav Temple. Protesters were holding placards and shouted slogans like “Jai Vaitaal Bhairava”, “Udhyamo Bhairava”, “Vaitaal Bhairava Ki Zameen Wapis Karo” and “protect our temples and shrines”. The association mentioned that the reports about the felling of trees on the temple land had hurt the religious sentiments of the Kashmiri Pandit community. The protesters demanded a high-level inquiry into the sale of temple land and land-grabbing of other religious places and demanded that culprits should be booked under the law. Representatives of various social and political Kashmiri Pandit organisations were present on the occasion, including the Panun Kashmir, APMCC and Pt Prem Nath Bhat Memorial. |
||
|
Ponywalas up in arms against Katra MC
Katra, April 2 The union members shouted slogans against the Municipal Committee, Katra. Bhupinder Singh said these poor labourers were struggling hard for their rights, but no one was paying attention to their problems. He said it was an irony that the labourers were getting low wages. He further added that he would leave no stone unturned in solving their problems and would talk to all the authorities concerned for early redress of their demands. Bhupinder also addressed the gathering and appealed to the authorities of the Municipal Committee, Katra, to solve their problems at the earliest. Meanwhile, devotees who had come to pay obeisance at the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine today faced problems due to the protest of ponywalas and pithoowalas. |
||
|
Assembly panel pulls up Social Welfare Dept
Jammu, April 2 In its report tabled on the floor of the Assembly, the committee pointed out that in spite of releasing less than projected allocation, the department could not utilise/spend even the same, thereby proving its inefficiency. The officers responsible for the lapse should be taken to task, it added. It was further stated that the committee had asked the Directors (Social Welfare), both from Jammu and Kashmir regions, to appraise it about the total number of anganwari centres, and the allocation and expenditure on nutrition. However, they could not provide the proper figures to the committee. Taking cognisance, the committee observed that though the government was not in a position to provide the projected allocation due to certain reasons, the released amount could not be spent by the department, resulting in lapse of huge amounts since 2008-09. “Such a tendency deprives the deserving poor children of the nutrition,” the committee observed and added that the Director (Social Welfare), Kashmir, had, however, told the committee that the balance amount had been sent to the Deputy Commissioners concerned for revalidation. The committee also directed the department to furnish the breakup of funds sent for revalidation at the next meeting. The committee observed that it was the responsibility of the department to suggest ways and means to utilise the available funds and address the difficulties faced. On 1,700 cases of anganwari workers pending disposal in the court of law, as stated by the department, the committee directed the officials concerned to apprise the mechanism adopted to settle these cases and furnish the breakup of the cases. It was also stated in the report that the department could not satisfy the committee regarding the item-wise questionnaire sent by the Assembly Secretariat. |
||
|
CRPF recruitment rally begins for
Rajouri, Poonch
Rajouri, April 2 Over 5,000 aspirants had gathered at the venue for the nomination and registration process. Meanwhile, to prevent law and order problem, the police has made strict security arrangements in the city. “Over 5000 aspirants have reached the venue and their nomination process is on,” selection penal member YR Bunkar said. “We had plans to organise an open recruitment rally for all the districts, but it is difficult to control the law and order situation. Now the recruitment is only for aspirants from Poonch and Rajouri,” Bunkar added. The written test will be held on April 29. However, a 5 km race and other physical tests will be conducted from April 14 to 21, he said. Deputy Commandant, CRPF, Rajesh Kumar Singh said, “The process of enrolment is going on smoothly.” — OC
|
||
|
Man killed, another injured in road mishap
Jammu, April 2 The dead has been identified as Sunil Singh, a resident of Nagrota in Billawar tehsil. The injured, Mukesh Kumar, of Nagrota, was referred to Government Medical College and Hospital, Jammu. The police said the duo had gone on an excursion when their vehicle met with the accident. “The vehicle was being driven rashly. The driver of the vehicle failed to negotiate a curve that led to the accident,” the police said.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Jammu, April 2
Katra, April 2
Eminent sculptor Ravinder Jamwal, who made the life-size statue of Maharaja Hari Singh, felt humiliated because he was not invited to the function held to unveil the statue.
As per the findings of the “Census 2011 — Housing and Household Amenities”, the number of vehicles (cars, jeeps and vans) has risen to 1,50,465 in 2011 from 48,444 in 2001, an increase of 210.6 per cent.