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CAG report card out: Govt gets a poor in school, road works
PWD gets a rap for sloppy monitoring mechanism
State loses Rs 12 cr as owners of commercial vehicles dodge tax
Amarnath yatra to begin from June 25
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Airfare to shrine slashed
Police reviews security
Omar for ‘normal’ cross-LoC trade
Action must be taken against ‘erring’ ministers: Panthers Party
Speaker adjourns Assembly sine die
BPL scheme benefits taken by well-off persons
Govt has no record of misuse of farm land
Zardari’s visit to restart dialogue process: NC
Central University of Jammu
24 more CRPF bunkers to go from summer capital
Governor greets people on Mahavir Jayanti
DATELINE KASHMIR
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CAG report card out: Govt gets a poor in school, road works
This was concluded by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India report for the year ending March 31, 2011. The report was tabled in the state Assembly by Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather on the last day of the budget session here. The report has nailed the state government for its failure to provide “the basic minimum amenities” to students at the primary as well as high school level. It also observed that despite an increase in the number of government schools, the enrolment had decreased due to the coming up of many private schools and preference being given to them by parents. Lack of infrastructure is stated to be the main reason for the sharp decline in enrolment in government schools. The CAG findings revealed that despite the liberal funding by the Centre, a majority of the government schools didn’t even have black boards, drinking and electricity facilities. “The funds meant for replacing school equipment such as blackboard, sitting mats, dusters, registers and other office equipment were not released timely. Also, the State Implementing Agency (SIS) of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan had retained funds and parked it in saving bank accounts during 2006-11. About 32 to 72 per cent of the funds were released by the SIS to implementing agencies at the fag end of the financial years,” the CAG report revealed. At present, 23454 government schools (14453 primary schools, 6976 middle schools, 1418 high schools and 607 higher secondary schools) are functioning in the state. In addition, there are two State Institutes of Education (SIEs), 22 District Institutes of Education & Training (DIETs), 1600 Cluster Resource Centres and 4728 private schools. The report disclosed that despite the Central funding for construction of kitchen-cum-store under mid-day meal scheme, there were inadequate kitchen utensils in the schools surveyed. The report revealed that 3256 habitations (12 per cent) at the state level were without any schooling facility. Though the teacher-pupil ratio in test-checked schools was 1:12 and within the prescribed norm of 1:40, 718 schools out of the 7016 schools in test-checked districts were run by single teachers. The CAG concluded that non-preparation of plans based on ground realities, non-monitoring of schemes at all the levels and inadequate internal control mechanism had hampered implementation of the
programmes. |
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PWD gets a rap for sloppy monitoring mechanism
This has been revealed by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India report on State Finances. The report says that the internal control mechanism and monitoring is virtually non-existent in the department entrusted with the job to keep the roads in
good shape in Jammu and Kashmir. “No comprehensive road planning policy was in place in the state. The planning of works was not up to the mark. Delay in release of funds was seen at all levels which had an impact on programme implementation,” reveals the CAG report. It says that diversion of Rs 16.30 crore to other schemes impacted targets set by the government for which the funds were earmarked. “Unauthorised liability of Rs 110.82 crore had been created due to the execution of unapproved works in the state,” says the report. Exposing the working of the PWD, the CAG says that shortfall in achievement of targets was witnessed in all programmes. Unrealistic estimation led to a cost overrun in 1,803 road works. A cost overrun of Rs 27.52 crore was witnessed in 98 roads and 45 buildings works. In what could be an embarrassment for the planners, the report also mentions that the deadline has been exceeded from one to nine years in
167 roads and 200 buildings works taken up by the PWD. Works taken up on disputed sites resulted in blocking of Rs 148.43 crore on 113 road and 56 building works. “Due to the non-procurement of the construction material, eight executing divisions spent Rs 62.47 crore on procurement of material from the open market and incurred
an expenditure of Rs 1.04 crore.” The report says that the State Public Works Account Code (PWAC) prohibits payment of daily labour through a contractor; instead a muster roll should be maintained for making payment to labourers engaged on works. “In many divisions, Executive Engineers are engaging labourers through mates (contractors) for execution of works without restoring to the tendering process and huge sums are paid to these mates through the medium of hand receipts (meant for making petty payment).” |
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State loses Rs 12 cr as owners of commercial vehicles dodge tax
The number of vehicles for which tax has not been paid is expected to be much higher because these figures have been collected from the seven computerised offices of Assistant Regional Transport Officers (ARTOS) and Regional Transport Officers (RTOs) located in different parts of the state. As other offices of the ARTOs are not computerised, they do not have such data available with them. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its latest report (for 2010-11) pointed out that the data from seven offices of ARTOs and RTOs revealed that the system was not designed for auto generation of information in respect of vehicle owners who had defaulted in payment of tax. “The system could not be utilised for monitoring realisation of the tax from defaulters. The department was not aware of the total numbers of owners who had defaulted in payment of tax,” the CAG report stated. While lambasting the department for adopting a casual approach, the report said though this information could have been generated with the help of software by performing some additional exercise, the department had not done anything to review the database to ascertain the actual number of vehicles that were on roads and liable to pay tax. |
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Amarnath yatra to begin from June 25
Srinagar, April 4 The Governor met Lt Gen SA Hasnain, GoC, 15 Corps, and Maj Gen Gurdeep Singh, GoC, Victor Force, to review the present situation and various security coordination issues, which will surface when the yatra starts. At a meeting with Asgar Samoon, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, and SM Sahai, IGP, Kashmir Zone, Vohra reviewed the status of preparatory arrangements for ensuring the smooth and orderly movement of the pilgrims to the Nunwan and Baltal base camps and thereafter to the tracks leading to the holy cave shrine. The Governor was informed that the required infrastructure would be put in place before the yatra commences. The Governor also held discussions with Brig TPS Rawat, Chief Engineer, Beacon Project, about issues relating to track improvement. |
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Airfare to shrine slashed
Jammu, April 4 Navin Kumar Choudhary, Chief Executive Officer, Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, informed through a press release that the one-way helicopter fare from Baltal to Panjtarni had been reduced from Rs 2,425 per passenger in 2011 to Rs 1,445 for the ensuing yatra. This marks a reduction of over 40 per cent, as compared to last year. Similarly, the helicopter fare for the Pahalgam-Panjtarni route has been reduced from Rs 3,495 per person in 2011 to Rs 2,355 in 2012. This is a reduction of over 35 per cent as compared to the
last year. Choudhary said the reduction in fare would help a large number of people to perform the pilgrimage. He added that the procedure of booking tickets was being worked out and would be announced soon through a press release and on the website of the Shrine Board.
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Srinagar, April 4 Director General of Police (DGP) Kuldeep Khoda chaired the meeting of police, civil and paramilitary officers last evening. He urged the officers to evolve an effective mechanism and get more public cooperation to ensure a peaceful Amarnath yatra, an official said. Giving the people of the state credit for the smooth conduct of last year’s pilgrimage, Khoda said: “The people have always been peace-loving and shown their generosity towards pilgrims.” The meeting also discussed the law and order situation in the Kashmir valley and reviewed the summer preparedness for making the tourist season successful. The DGP was told that all required arrangements had been made to ensure a congenial atmosphere so that the Valley witnessed a large flow of tourists during the summer months.
— TNS |
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Upper House witnesses series of walkouts
Jammu, April 4 Legislators were sore that their questions and other important issues were not listed “deliberately” in the business of the House. As soon as the House assembled here this morning, Gupta drew the attention of the Chair, saying that neither his questions nor important issues were listed in the House. “It is grave injustice,” he shouted. Law Minister Ali Mohammed Sagar tried to calm him down, but his efforts went in vain. A fuming Gupta staged a walkout. Later, PDP MLC Ashraf Mir also staged a walkout. Mir was reminding the Chair about a house committee, which he claimed had been promised by none other than the Chairman, to look into adulteration of milk in the state. Subsequently, Panthers Party MLC Rafiq Shah sought the attention of the Chair towards the alleged harassment of the Gujjars and Bakerwals in Samba district. Shah was not given an opportunity to speak and he staged a walkout. However, Shah raised the issue during Zero Hour. |
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Omar for ‘normal’ cross-LoC trade
Jammu, April 4 Emphasising the importance of converting the cross-LoC trade from the present “barter” status to normal trading pattern, the Chief Minister today sought the support and endorsement of the Assembly for his endeavour aimed at urging Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss the issue with the visiting President of Pakistan in the meeting taking place between the two leaders in New Delhi. He hoped that both countries would take some concrete efforts to give impetus to the cross-LoC trade. While intervening during Question Hour in the Legislative Assembly, Omar said that the cross-LoC trade had not flourished due to non-application of normal trading practices and restricting it to “barter” trade only. He said that telephone, banking, financial and other normal trade facilities were essential for the traders of both the countries so as take maximum benefit of this CBM. The House unanimously supported the Chief Minister’s point of view when the Speaker asked the members about the same. |
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Action must be taken against ‘erring’ ministers: Panthers Party
Jammu, April 4 Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Assembly, Panthers Party leader Harsh Dev Singh claimed that there were instances where “false and misleading information” was provided to the House to cover up acts of “misfeasance and malfeasance”. “Such behaviour amounted to contempt of the Legislature, besides breach of privilege of members,” Harsh Dev said, adding that the House should take cognisance of such “unscrupulous and reckless behaviour” of the authorities concerned and proceed against them under prevalent norms and rules of the House. Taking the government head on, the Panthers Party leader alleged that the most “glaring and an unpardonable act” of the officials concerned was visible in the drafting of ‘Governor’s address’ to both the Houses of the Legislature. “False and misleading information was incorporated in the Governor’s address by the school education department, thereby involving the highest constitutional office of the Governor in a bundle of lies of the state government,” he added. Substantiating his claims, he said, “The para 35 of the Governor’s address to the joint session of the Legislature on February 23 states that under the Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, 279 middle schools have been approved to be up graded to high schools. This has raised the number of high schools to 1,697.” He claimed that the said information was incorrect, as out of the 279 schools, none had been approved by the state government till date. Describing the act of the authorities concerned as “reprehensible and contemptuous”, Harsh Dev moved a privilege motion and sought fixation of responsibility and appropriate action against authorities concerned. Deputy Speaker Sartaj Madni, who was in the chair, took note of the issue and directed Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather to have the facts verified and process the case for appropriate proceedings. |
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Speaker adjourns Assembly sine die
Jammu, April 4 Lone gave a detailed account of the business transacted during the 27-day-long session of the House and thanked the Information Department, Assembly Secretariat, Chief Secretary and other administrative secretaries, departments concerned and media for their cooperation in transacting the business of the House smoothly. The Speaker said 151 starred questions of various members were taken up for discussion, adding that 219 issues of public importance were raised by the members during Zero Hour. He said two deferred questions, 501 unstarred questions and 1,033 questions, including clubbed questions were admitted by the Assembly Secretariat. He said 14 Bills were passed during the session, adding that 24 private members Bills were also taken up, out of which four Bills were introduced. He said 125 calling attention notices were received by the Assembly Secretariat, out of which 34
were taken up and 45 were disallowed. He said out of 84 resolutions received by the Assembly Secretariat, 65 were admitted, 14 Bills
balloted for being taken up and six were taken up in the House. He said the Secretariat had received 2,240 cut motions, out of which 1,918 were listed and 322 disallowed. The Speaker added that 145.40 hours were consumed for the transaction of the Business during the entire budget session of 2012-13. |
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BPL scheme benefits taken by well-off persons
Jammu, April 4 Replying to a question of NC legislator Mir Saifullah in the Assembly today, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) Minister Qamar Ali Akhoon said in order to ensure the inclusion of all deserving families in the BPL list, the government had constituted a committee of officers from revenue, rural and CAPD departments to reconcile and scrutinise the existing BPL lists in the state. He added that after completing the survey, all deserving families would be provided ration under the BPL
category. He said the Central government had given permission to conduct a fresh survey and the Rural Development Department had been entrusted the job. He hoped that an updated BPL list would be prepared this year. Replying to the main question, the Minister said ration cards and ration would be issued to leftover families, as and when the revised allocation of food grains corresponding to the Census of 2011 was
allocated by the Centre. He said at present the Centre was supplying ration to the state on the basis of Census 2001. |
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Govt has no record of misuse of farm land
Jammu, April 4 A member of the Upper House said the agricultural activity across the state had nosedived to 19 per cent from 56 per cent in 1970s. However, the state government said till the Jammu and Kashmir Prohibition on Conversion of Agricultural Land for Non-agricultural Purposes Act, 2010, becomes a reality, the malpractice would continue. It also assured to come down heavily on those usurping agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes. Following an uproar in the House, the Bill pertaining to the Act had been referred to the Select Committee of the legislature last year. Responding to queries in the Upper House here yesterday, Minister of State for Home Nasir Aslam Wani said to keep a check on the practice, a high-level panel had been constituted by the government, which had talked to various stakeholders. “The panel had prepared a Bill, which is now pending with the Select Committee of the state legislature. Once the Bill is passed, such practices will cease,” said Wani. The government has also been prohibiting the use of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes through the Land Revenue Act and the Agrarian Reforms Act, he maintained. He assured the House that conversions of agricultural land for other purposes will not be allowed anymore. The Minister admitted that in the past 50 years the agricultural land had considerably shrunk across the state. He attributed it to the construction of public and private buildings, widening and construction of roads, setting up of government and private institutions, acquisition of land for defence purposes and for houses in rural, urban, and semi-urban areas. “However, the exact quantum of agricultural land for non-agricultural use needs extensive survey, which is a mammoth exercise and time consuming,” he said. In this context, he also referred to the existing manpower in the Revenue Department, which by no means could undertake the exercise. MLC Bashir Ahmed Veeri also regretted the non-serious attitude of the government in reversing the trend. “I fail to understand why the government is not serious about the issue,” Veeri said. Legislator Sheikh Ghulam Rasool felt that time had come to initiate stringent measures while PDP MLC Murtaza Khan suggested a House Committee should look into the issue. Vijay Bakaya felt that no law could check the practice unless and until the government popularised the concept of cash crops among farmers. |
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Zardari’s visit to restart dialogue process: NC
Srinagar, April 4 “The visit will help to reduce the trust deficit between the two governments and restart the dialogue process. It will also pave the way for future talks to resolve all outstanding issues, including the Kashmir issue,” senior NC leader Dr Mehboob Beig said in a statement issued here. Stating that an unofficial meeting would be held between Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari after his return from Ajmer Sharief on April 8, Beig said the people of the state were desperately waiting for the resumption of talks between the two neighbouring countries. “At the official level, the dialogue is going on, but decisions and conclusions are only drawn at the political level. It is important for both the countries to restart the dialogue process at the political level. Friendly ties between the two countries are for the larger interest of the people of both the countries, particularly for the people of Kashmir,” he added. Beig asserted that the entire NC leadership, particularly Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and party president Dr Farooq Abdullah, had stressed upon the Centre to restart the dialogue process with Pakistan to resolve all outstanding issues at the earliest. Stating that the Zardari’s visit would provide another opportunity for the leaders of both the countries to resolve various issues, he said: “The visit of Zardari is non-political, but his (scheduled) meeting with the Prime Minister is significant, as it will open new doors of dialogue.” |
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Central
University of Jammu
Jammu, April 4 Varindar Singh, president of the NPSU, threatened to hold a massive demonstration against the state government, if vocational courses, science and other relevant courses were not introduced in the curriculum to help students gain employment. The students’ body is also raising the issue of discrimination against the Central University of Jammu, in allotment of funds and setting up of infrastructure. The NPSU also demanded reservation for local Jammu students on a par with students of the Central University of Kashmir. The protesting students were demanding new infrastructure, new job structure and allotment of more seats in the recruitment process for all Jammu students.
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24 more CRPF bunkers to go from summer capital
Srinagar, April 4 A large number of bunkers had come up across the Kashmir valley during the two decades of militancy. The process of removing sandbag bunkers from densely-populated areas of the city started early last year. The process was a part of the eight-point programme announced by the Central government in September 2010, following the summer unrest in the Valley. At least 117 youths were killed by the police and security forces during the summer violence that disrupted normal life in Kashmir for about three months. As part of the confidence building measure, at least 39 bunkers of the CRPF were removed from different parts of Srinagar city last year. The process has once again been set into motion and efforts are on to remove the remaining bunkers soon, officials said here. While bunkers, which will be removed soon, have been identified, the decision to give a green signal to remove these bunkers rests with the state government, an official of the CRPF said. He added that the state government’s approval was awaited and the identified bunkers would be removed only after the approval. Traders from different areas had also been demanding the removal of bunkers, as the traders’ community and public in general had to suffer, in case of any attack on these bunkers by militants. The step of removing bunkers from the city is being taken in view of the improving security situation in the Valley. |
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Governor greets people on Mahavir Jayanti
Jammu, April 4 The Governor described the Lord Mahavira as an apostle of truth and righteousness. He said the best way to observe such auspicious occasions was to strengthen the bonds of brotherhood, amity, harmony and secular ethos. The Governor prayed for sustained peace, progress and prosperity in the state. |
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DATELINE KASHMIR
Opposition PDP president Mehbooba Mufti has claimed that her party members are getting regular calls from Kashmiris living in Goa that they are being “mistreated” and are also issued “separate identity cards”. Asserting that the issuance of a particular type of identification cards to Kashmiris was “unfortunate and uncalled for”, the opposition leader has flayed the government for not taking the matter seriously. Moreover, this is not the first time that such complaints of this kind have been made where Kashmiris have reportedly been “discriminated against”. Therefore, it is imperative that the government takes up the issue with the Centre so that every Kashmiri is not looked at with suspicion outside the state. Telecom services
Telephone lines to Raj Bhavan and residential houses of VVIPs on the Gupkar Road were snapped when the underground cables were damaged during digging by the PWD last week. The houses to which the telephone lines as well as the BSNL broadband services were disconnected included the houses of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, his father Union Minister Farooq Abdullah, former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, CPI (M) State Secretary and three-time MLA M Y Tarigami. The damage, which disrupted telecom services to 1,200 subscribers, had been caused by “unauthorised” digging by the PWD on the footpath near Dalgate on Thursday. The round-the-clock restoration work has been started by the BSNL and the damaged cables will be restored within a few days, a communique of the BSNL said. Grievances galore
Whenever a delegation meets with the Chief Minister or any minister of the Cabinet over an issue facing them, the government through the Information Department often issues a statement that says the aggrieved set of people were “given a patient hearing”. Recently, when the goldsmiths and jewellers who had been protesting for many days demanding a rollback of excise duty on gold items met Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, they too were meted out the same old “patient hearing”. Unfortunately, the aggrieved sections that include employees, contractual employees or people facing a whole lot of day-to-day problems are only given this “patient hearing” while their issues continue to remain unresolved. It is time the government took some serious steps that would mitigate the long list of problems being faced by people in the state. — Contributed by Ehsan Fazili and M Aamir Khan |
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Jammu, April 4
Jammu, April 4
The report was based on performance audit covering the period from 2006-07 to 2010-11. The audit took into account the records of the administrative department; director, school education; six out of the 22 chief education officers; and 193 out of the 21,579 primary and upper primary schools selected on random sampling. “Out of 5,232 works relating to construction of schools, additional class rooms and cluster resource centres taken up during 2002-11, only 65 per cent had been completed. Work on 560 school buildings had not been started, 485 works had been abandoned midway and work on 34 school buildings had been taken up on disputed sites,” the CAG pointed out. 
Jammu, April 4
Jammu, April 4