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Infant Deaths
Cong’s call for unity fetches no result
Mufti for Kashmir solution within Indian Constitution
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Rehabilitation policy
State has no rehabilitation centre for mentally challenged
Omar’s novel way to reach out to remote areas
1 dead, 13 injured in road mishap
Amarnath yatra
Akhilesh to visit Kashmir in August
Marathon runner threatens more protests against govt
CRPF sets precondition for AFSPA rollback
Peace is imperative for good governance: Mir
BJP to mobilise public opinion against interlocutors’ report
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Infant Deaths
Srinagar, May 27 Though the civic amenities have improved in the hospital, most of the beds in the intensive care unit are being shared by two newborns. The emergency ward of the hospital is overcrowded. “The newborns are prone to infections,” said Nazir Ahmed, an attendant, from Tangmarg whose three-day-old baby is admitted in the neonatal intensive care unit
(NICU). “Almost all the beds in the NICU are being shared by two infants, despite assurances by the authorities that facilities will be improved at the hospital.” Doctors at the hospital say newborns with acute complications are at high risk in the hospital and prone to infections. More than 380 children have died this year in GB Pant Hospital, the only tertiary childcare hospital that caters to children across the Valley up to the age of 15 years. The other major problem that continues to affect the functioning of the hospital is the shortage of paramedical staff. On May 17, after an interim report by the Director, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Dr Showkat
Zargar, who is conducting an inquiry into the infant deaths at GB Pant Hospital, the government had promised to induct 40 nurses and paramedical staff for the better the management of the hospital. Sources said only 20 nurses have been inducted so far. The sources said while the government was planning to procure equipment and machinery for the hospital, the proposals for the purchases were stuck in various “codal procedures”. “We are not purchasing vegetables and fruits. We have to follow proper financial procedures to purchase equipment. The whole process of procuring the equipment is, however, being expedited so that the hospital is fully equipped,” said a senior official in the government. The government is planning to procure ventilators and ambulances for the hospital. The hospital needs 12 ventilators and 50 warmers, but it has only seven ventilators at present. The visible change in the hospital is that police personnel at the entrance do not allow more attendants to enter the hospital. Labourers could be seen working in the hospital to give a face lift to the hospital building. Attendants have to put on disposable gowns before entering the intensive care unit. “In the past ten days things have improved in the hospital as far as cleanliness and security are concerned. The hospital witnesses a huge rush of patients. We do not have good childcare facilities in districts and patients have no alternative but to come here,” said a senior doctor at the hospital. “If the government is serious about childcare, we should have good health care facilities for children at district hospitals.” The laboratories at the hospital need a major overhaul. Attendants say they have to go to other hospitals or private clinics for various clinical tests. “This is a tertiary care hospital and it is strange that some blood tests, MRI and CT scan are not done here. We have to go to Government Medical College or other private clinics for various clinical tests,” said Abdul
Aziz, a resident of Shopian. Medical Superintendent of GB Pant Hospital Muneer Masoodi said they were trying to improve the hospital functioning. “I am trying to improve things on all sides, whether it is infrastructure or other facilities,” said
Masoodi. “We have taken various measures in the hospital to ensure that the cross hospital infection is reduced,” he added. Dr
Zargar, who is holding the inquiry, said it would take two more weeks before the final inquiry report about the hospital would be submitted. “I have already submitted a preliminary inquiry report and the full report will be submitted in the next two weeks,” Zargar said. A change needed
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Cong’s call for unity fetches no result
Jammu, May 27 At the Srinagar conclave on May 19, Congress leaders, irrespective of their affiliation to different factions, had publicly announced that they would work as a unit to make the party play a bigger role in the state after the next Assembly elections. The unity efforts seem to have fizzled out within a week’s time because after the Srinagar conclave, Congress leaders have not attended any rally jointly to project a united front among the cadre. Both warring factions have been shifting the blame on each other for the infighting but no serious effort has been taken by any faction to iron out their differences. The Congress in the state is divided between two factions — one headed by Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) chief Saifuddin Soz and another by those who owe their loyalty to Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. Sources in the Congress said that after the Srinagar conclave a dinner was hosted by a senior party minister in which leaders of only one faction were invited. Only those leaders were invited in the dinner who owe their allegiance to Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. Another faction headed by the JKPCC chief had also organised a function at Srinagar in which only Soz loyalists were invited. Mohan Prakash, member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), and Soz addressed prominent Congress workers on May 20 in which only Soz loyalists were present. On the same day, Azad loyalists organised a function at Anantnag under the banner of the Congress Seva Dal just to show their strength to their rivals. The sources said the Srinagar conclave had deepened the differences among the warring factions because both groups had managed to get their loyalists included in the new JKPCC list of members. Furthermore the ongoing elections of the Youth Congress have added fuel to the infighting because the candidates contesting for different posts were openly projecting themselves as loyalists of one or the other group. Although neither the Soz faction nor the rival group have officially announced support to any candidate, both groups have been working overtime to ensure victory of their loyalists. |
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Mufti for Kashmir solution within Indian Constitution
Jammu, May 27 “That will be the real solution,” said party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed while addressing a public meeting at Hiranagar in Kathua district. The Mufti said the PDP’s ‘self-rule’ document advocated a solution within the Constitutional framework. “All demands incorporated by the PDP in the document are within the purview of the Constitution,” he said, adding such an option was “most viable and acceptable.” He took credit for the prevailing peace on the borders, saying it was the outcome of the reconciliatory policies pursued by his party. The PDP chief said his party pioneered a peace process that was endorsed by both India and Pakistan. “The PDP has shown in the past that it can facilitate the resolution process with prudence, and it is ready to shoulder the responsibility of taking the process to its logical conclusion,” he said while seeking to remind the people that it was due to PDP’s efforts that the residents of border areas were living a peaceful life. “In 2002, we had only 16 members in the Assembly, yet we followed the peace process and helped in bringing about reconciliation. It was due to PDP’s efforts that peace was restored in the sub-continent,” he said. “It was on the basis of PDP’s sound credibility that the then NDA regime supported our initiatives, which the present government continues to follow,” the Mufti said. He recalled the historic rally of then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in Kashmir on April18, 2003 when he had renewed the friendship offer to Pakistan at a time when tension was running high on the border. |
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Rehabilitation policy
Srinagar, May 27 The released militants were told to set up NGOs in various districts across the Kashmir valley during a one-day workshop organised by the police at Baramulla. The workshop was attended by a team of counsellors, social workers and doctors of the police drug de-addiction centre. “The team interacted with 150 released militants to assess psycho-social needs of the affected population and to draft a plan for long-term intervention, as a pact of the rehabilitation policy,” said a police spokesman. He said it was decided that the released militants would identify areas, where they would need the help of the police. Over the last few months, the police has been holding interactive meetings with the released militants across the Valley to discuss their rehabilitation. Figures say there are
over 30,000 released militants in the state and the authorities are taking steps to rehabilitate them so that they do not go back to militancy. |
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State has no rehabilitation centre for mentally challenged
Jammu, May 27 While people continue to fall prey to various mental disorders, including schizophrenia, it is high time the government came up with a rehabilitation centre. “The existing Government Psychiatric Diseases Hospital building at Ambphalla is ideally suited for the purpose,” said a senior psychiatrist. The Government Psychiatric Diseases Hospital at Ambphalla is going to be shifted soon to a new building coming up in the vicinity of the Government Chest Diseases Hospital. Once the rehabilitation centre is set up in the existing building here, it could be handed over to the health department, which can run it with the help of an NGO, said
the psychiatrist. In the absence of a rehabilitation centre, the Government Psychiatric Diseases Hospital refuses to hospitalise mentally challenged patients without their attendants. “Owing to various factors like protracted militancy, including killings and disappearances, and unemployment, the state has witnessed a sharp increase in the number of mentally disturbed people. Now, it is high time the government took the initiative and came up with a rehab centre,” said a social activist. Incidentally, there are 52 stressful life events, which can prove to be initiating factors, also known as psychogenic precipitating factors, to initiate a mental disorder in able-bodied human beings. If the government comes up with such a centre, it will definitely bring in better care and treatment for mentally challenged patients, said the activist. “Being the sole bread earner of my family I find it difficult to spare sufficient time to look after my mentally challenged brother. If such a centre comes up, it would not only ensure proper care and medication for him but also enable me to earn my livelihood,” said Manoj Kumar, who works in a private company. A recent study by the Indian Psychiatrists Society, Mumbai, stated that over 30 per cent of the patients attending medical OPDs in Jammu were found suffering from
psychological disorders, mostly neurotic disorders like depression and anxiety. Fallout of protracted militancy
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Omar’s novel way to reach out to remote areas
Jammu, May 27 Omar has decided to hold a Cabinet meeting in the remote border town of Tangdhar near the Line of Control
(LoC) in Kupwara district of north Kashmir, which is one of the underdeveloped regions
of the state. Omar wrote on the Twitter, “This week I take the Cabinet to Tangdar in north Kashmir. Once a month we will meet in a remote part of the state.
Gurez, Machil and Keran.” The town is nearly 160 km from the summer capital and is located near the LoC with Pakistan occupied Kashmir
(PoK) and was once a hotbed of militancy, mainly foreign militants. The area remains cut off from the rest of the state and country for more
than six months. Sources said the proposal mooted by the Chief Minister aimed at getting closer with people living in far-flung parts of the state, who had many grievances, when it came to distribution of funds and development of basic infrastructure. Even MLAs from ruling parties, representing some of the remote areas, have cornered the ruling coalition in the Legislative Assembly from time to time for neglecting their regions and ignoring the basic needs of the people. A senior official said the government had this year announced some additional funds for the development of backward areas in the state and some major decisions related to development works would be taken during routine meetings in the coming months. “It will allow Cabinet ministers to get a first hand account of problems
being faced by the people and interact with local MLAs and leaders,” the official said. It is perhaps for the first time that a state Cabinet meeting is being held
outside the civil secretariat or the Chief Minister’s residence.
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1 dead, 13 injured in road mishap
Jammu, May 27 All the injured were referred to Government Medical College and Hospital, Jammu, from
Sher-e-Kashmir Memorial Emergency Hospital, Batote. Besides the parents of the dead child, Kamal Kishore and Tripta Devi, the other injured were identified as
Shobhavati, Baby Pandita, Gohar, Prito Devi Bhagat, Ravinder Kumar, Rajkumar (driver), Jaspal Singh, Kulwant Singh, Ashwani Kumar, Naresh Kumar Saneja and his wife Neelima. — OC |
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Amarnath yatra
Srinagar, May 27 “The work has been hampered as labourers were not able to move and work in rainy conditions in the high altitude area. Therefore, more engineers and contractors will be mobilised to complete backlog work and put in place all infrastructure for the yatra,” said Choudhary after visiting the Baltal base camp. Due to intermittent bad weather during the last month and frequent rain and snowfall during the last few days, Governor NN Vohra, who is also the Chairman of the SASB, has directed the CEO to personally visit Baltal and Pahalgam and take stock of the situation and snow clearance work. “The continuous bad weather has not only hampered the snow clearance work on the track, but has also delayed restoration of power and water supply,” the CEO said. Choudhary also went around and inspected other facilities at the Baltal base camp. He expressed satisfaction over the restoration of the helipad and other structures, which were damaged due to snow avalanches during winter. The CEO will visit Nunwan and Chandanwari base camps on May 29 to take stock of the situation and progress made regarding yatra-related arrangements. “The Governor along with the CEO is scheduled to undertake an another aerial survey of both the yatra routes on June 2. They will try to land at some of the camp locations on the yatra route, in addition to Nunwan and Baltal base camps,” an official spokesman said. |
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Akhilesh to visit Kashmir in August
Srinagar, May 27 “Akhilesh’s two-day visit in August will give a major boost to the party in the state,” Samajwadi Party state president Sheikh Abdul Rehman told The Tribune. “Akhilesh is a youth icon and the party leaders from J&K will get an opportunity to meet
him and discuss various issues for strengthening the party.” The visit of Akhilesh, party leaders said, is also aimed at fulfilling party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s dream of earning a “national party” tag
for the SP.
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Marathon runner threatens more protests against govt
Srinagar, May 27 “My protests would be more offensive if the government does not wake up from its slumber,” said Tanveer Hussain, the dejected 18-year-old athlete from the old city. Tanveer ran a marathon of 100 km from Srinagar to Pahalgam on Saturday to protest against the state government’s “lackadaisical” attitude towards promoting marathon runners and athletes. The protest marathon started from the Lal Chowk here at 10 am and ended up in the main market of Pahalgam, covering a distance of 100 km in seven and a half hours. “The marathon was in protest against the apathetic attitude of the government towards sports in the state,” Tanveer said. Tanveer has won many marathons organised
locally. — TNS |
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CRPF sets precondition for AFSPA rollback
Jammu, May 27 Section 197 of the CrPC gives CRPF officers and men immunity against prosecution in other states of the country except Jammu and Kashmir, which by and large, has Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) and sans this particular Section of the CrPC. “The CRPF, like the Army, is being covered under the AFSPA in Jammu and Kashmir because of the fact that we, too, take part in counter-insurgency operations. In fact, the CRPF had been deployed mainly in the state to contain insurgency,” said a senior CRPF officer. “The counter-insurgency operations still remain our main duty and, therefore, we also need protection,” he added. The officer said that in the absence of Section 197 of the CrPC in Jammu and Kashmir, AFSPA becomes indispensable for them. If the Union government extends Section 197 of the CrPC to Jammu and Kashmir, the CRPF will not have any objections over the revocation of the AFSPA, he said. Clause 2 of Section 197 of the CrPC reads, “No court shall take cognisance of any offence alleged to have been committed by any member of the Armed Forces of the Union acting or purporting to act in the discharge of his official duty, except with the previous sanction of the Central government.” However, sources in the CRPF said that Jammu and Kashmir being a special state under Article 370, those at the helm of affairs may not let it happen because the extension of this Section to them might tantamount to erosion of the special status. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had been repeatedly raising the issue seeking partial revocation of the AFSPA from certain peaceful areas of the state. During his meeting with Union Home Secretary RK Singh yesterday at Srinagar, Omar had once again raked up the issue. While the Army has strong reservations over the revocation of the AFSPA, the CRPF has no problem if the Act is rolled back provided Section 197 of the CrPC is extended to the state. On November 9 last year at the Unified Headquarters’ meet, the CRPF had toed the same line. “We don’t have problems with the removal of the AFSPA provided the state government introduces certain clauses of the CrPC, which are at present applicable to other states, to Jammu and Kashmir so as to give some legal protection to our officers and personnel,” said a CRPF source. |
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Peace is imperative for good governance: Mir
Srinagar, May 27 Speaking at a public rally at Wanigam, Pattan, in north Kashmir, Mir urged people to give peace a chance as people had suffered economically, educationally and on the development front primarily due to unrest. “Good governance is a key for boosting the economy of the state. And without peace, good governance is impossible,” he said. He said development was co-related with peace. The Minister added that participation of the people in development activities and other welfare programmes was essential for making Jammu and Kashmir a centre of economic progress in the Central Asian region. “Our traditional tourism industry is dependent on peace. The livelihood of lakhs of people across the state is dependent on this sector,” he said. “The time has come for all stakeholders to sit together and rework on a constructive strategy to make J&K a peaceful and progressive state.” The Minister said it was with the people’s cooperation, particularly of youth, that development activities had got momentum. “The youth maintained a peaceful atmosphere in the Valley during the last one and a half year and the result is that development activities have got momentum and the tourist influx into the Valley has increased manifold. This has in turn helped transporters, hoteliers, shikarawallas, houseboat owners, artisans, shopkeepers and vendors,” the Minister said. |
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BJP to mobilise public opinion against interlocutors’ report
Jammu, May 27 Prem Kumar, a senior functionary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — the Sangh Parivar fountainhead — has already reached Jammu to devise a strategy to launch an agitation against the report. “A meeting of the core group of the Sangh Parivar, including the BJP, was held today to chalk out a strategy in this regard,” a source in the Sangh Parivar said, adding that the issue would be raised at the state and national level to mobilise public opinion against the report. Besides senior parcharaks of the RSS, some BJP leaders were also present in the meeting which lasted for more than two hours, sources said, adding that Gujjars, Scheduled Castes and West Pakistani refugees would be roped in the stir against the interlocutors’ report. The sources said instead of constituting a new body to launch the agitation, the Parivar had decided to assign this job to the BJP. Other organisations of the Sangh Parivar would render support to the BJP to mobilise public opinion and take this battle to the national level also. “The agitation against the report of the interlocutors would not be confined only to the Jammu region. We have decided to mobilise public opinion all over the country”, an insider in the Sangh Parivar said. “Some senior leaders of the BJP and pro-Jammu intellectuals would be sent to different parts of the country to educate the countrymen about the ‘nefarious game plan’ of the interlocutors to accomplish the agenda of the separatists,” a senior RSS functionary said. Senior RSS parcharak Arun Kumar, who had earlier served in Jammu and Kashmir, is already working at the national level to inform people about the Kashmir problem. |
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The directions of the Congress high command to bring a truce among the warring factions of the state unit of the party have apparently failed to yield any result.
The Peoples Democratic Party today said it favoured solution to the Kashmir problem within the Constitution of India.
“That will be the real solution,” said party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed while addressing a public meeting at Hiranagar in Kathua district.
Minister for Agriculture Ghulam Hassan Mir has said peace was imperative for good governance.
Speaking at a public rally at Wanigam, Pattan, in north Kashmir, Mir urged people to give peace a chance as people had suffered economically, educationally and on the development front primarily due to unrest.
