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150 panchayat members quit under terror threat
INTERVIEW Qamar Ali Akhoon
Rs
7,300-cr Annual Plan |
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Book fair to conclude today
BSF jawans keep vigil on the international border
in Jammu. A file photograph
Show of strength by Youth Cong leaders
Members of the Pradesh Youth Congress participate in a rally to felicitate party
vice-president Pranav Shagotra in Jammu on Saturday. Tribune photo: Anand Sharma
J&K forced to buy back power at higher rates
Civil society for ban on tobacco products
Polo match held at
Drass
Himalayan geology in Ladakh holds great research potential: Governor
National integration camps help children understand cultures: Guv
Governor NN Vohra and his wife Usha Vohra (right) interact with children
at Raj Bhawan in Srinagar on Saturday. A Tribune photograph
Vehicles to get tamper-proof number plates from this month
KPL phase-II inaugurated
Five dead, 40 injured in Katra bus accident
The injured receive treatment at the Emergency Hospital, Katra, on Saturday.
A Tribune photograph
Army foils infiltration bid in Rajouri
Dal Lake
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150 panchayat members quit under terror threat
Srinagar, June 9 The panchayat functionaries have resigned mostly from three districts of Shopian, Pulwama and Kulgam in south Kashmir. A few days ago, militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad had pasted posters on electricity polls and mosques in various areas threatening sarpanches and panches with “dire consequences” if they did not resign within a week. After the threat, suspected militants had attacked the house of a numberdar (village head) in Kulgam district on Wednesday. “After the latest threats were issued, we had raised the matter with the state government, but it seemed non-serious about our security. The sustained militant pressure has created a panic among panchayat members and we are contemplating resigning en masse,” said Shafiq Mir, convener, Jammu Kashmir Panchayat Conference. “If we resign, it will be the death of democracy in the state,” he added. Resignation letters of 152 sarpanches and panches have appeared in local newspapers in shape of advertisements since Friday. “I am resigning from the post of elected body membership,” read an advertisement from Abdul Rashid Dhobi, a panch from Pulwama. “From now on, I am not associated with any political party and this is for the information of the general public,” says another advertisement. Similarly, Amina Banoo, a woman panch from Sehpora, Pulwama, has issued an advertisement in an Urdu daily announcing her resignation. Around 33,000 sarpanches and panches across the state were elected last year after a gap of around 30 years. In fact, Syed Salahuddin, chief of indigenous militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen, had at the time of the elections announced that militants would not oppose the process. The threat posters had appeared for the first time in April in Pulwama district. The Lashkar-e-Toiba militants had then set a week’s deadline to the elected panches and sarpanches of the state to resign. Now, similar posters of the Jaish-e-Mohammad have created panic in Shopian. However, the Jammu Kashmir Panchayat Conference convener blamed the government for the situation. “The government wants to get the panches and sarpanches terrorised so that they do not take to the streets seeking empowerment. The threats have appeared after sarpanches launched a campaign seeking empowerment,” said Mir. The government said it was serious about the issue. “The Chief Minister has asked the DGP to find out the agency behind such posters. We will assess the security of panches and sarpanches. We will provide security wherever it is needed,” said Sagar. DIG (South Kashmir) Vijay Kumar said they had circulated phone numbers of police stations and officers to the panches and sarpanches. “We cannot provide security to all sarpanches and panches. But we have intensified night patrol in various areas,” he added. Police sources said it was not clear whether the latest posters in Shopian were issued by a militant organisation or someone else. “We are investigating the matter,” said a police officer.
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INTERVIEW
Prior to 2009, serpentine queues outside ration depots and widespread protests against the shortage of kerosene, LPG and sub-standard quality of food grain were commonplace. The credibility of the Consumers Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) Department was at its lowest ebb. The department took an initiative towards achieving accountability and transparency in the public distribution system (PDS) after the NC-Congress coalition took over the reigns of the state in January, 2009. Minister for CAPD Qamar Ali Akhoon, in an interview to Arteev Sharma, highlights major achievements and challenges ahead of the department.
Omar government has completed half its term. What are the major achievements of the CAPD Department during the first three years? When we took over, there was a complete lack of accountability and transparency within the department, besides allegations of corruption and pilferage. Ration was being provided to people on the basis of the 2001 Census. Our first priority was to streamline the PDS, which the department has managed to achieve to a great extent. In a major step towards achieving transparency and accountability, we launched websites of both directorates in Kashmir and Jammu to provide necessary information to people. We also started a toll-free number, constituted a grievance cell and brought the department under the Public Services Guarantee Act. What do you have to say on complaints of pilferage and corruption in the department? Some officials were resorting to malpractices like pilferage of food grain and overcharging. We directed all sales centres/depots to display the rate list prominently. We have achieved 70 per cent success in this regard. We have also decided to supply ration and other food grain through State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) buses to stop pilferage and leakage. Our major initiative is to have “end-to-end computerisation” in the department. It will help ensure 100 per cent transparency and accountability in the department. Does the department have specific plan to further streamline its functioning and improve PDS? The state Finance and Planning Department is actively considering restructuring the department. We will fill all vacant posts to deal with the problem of shortage of manpower. The Union government has decided to implement the Food Security Act across the country by the end of this year. After its implementation, the state will get the ration quota from the Centre based on the 2011 Census, which will further streamline the PDS. The government is also setting up a bottling plant at Pampore with a storage capacity of 45 days. It will help deal with the problem of LPG shortage during winter across the Valley. A similar plant will be established in Samba. The department has also recommended two bottling plants for South Kashmir and Kargil. The government has also decided to open a new gas agency at each block headquarters. As many as 60 block headquarters have been identified and the process will be completed through a draw of lots. Quotas have been fixed for Kashmiri migrants, Gujjars and Bakerwals. What are the major challenges before the department for the next three years? End-to-end computerisation of the department is the biggest challenge ahead of us. Still, some BPL families are not getting their share as undeserving
people have usurped their rights. We will ensure that the BPL families get
their due share. The bifurcation of ration cards (for nuclear families) will be another major task for the department.
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Rs
7,300-cr Annual Plan
Jammu, June 9 The delegation of all administrative heads, led by Chief Secretary Madhav Lal, will meet senior officials of the commission and discuss sectoral outlay of the plan before the commission releases funds for various development activities. Sources said after getting the final approval from the commission, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather will hold a meeting with Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, later this month. Officials sources said the state would seek another extension to the Prime Minister Reconstruction Plan (PMRP) to complete the unfinished projects taken up under the Central scheme. “Almost all administrative heads will be out of the state till Monday. The meeting with the commission will tough as there will be a lot of queries from the other side over the needs put forth by various departments,” said a source. The commission will hold a series of meetings with senior officers, including Commissioner Secretaries/Principal Secretaries of departments like Planning, Public Health Engineering, Housing, Roads and Buildings, Education, Health, Power, Public Works, Rural Development and Tourism to give its final approval to the plan. “The state has projected a Rs 7,300-crore plan, which is 10 per cent up from the last year. This will be in addition to the special grant under the PMRP for which the Home Minister is also supporting the state,” said a senior officer from the Planning Department. Jalil Ahmed Khan, Economic Adviser to Jammu and Kashmir, said: “This is a crucial meeting as the plan outlay of every sector will be discussed and given final approval. A draft is already with the Planning Commission and has been studied by them.” Khan said the draft proposal for the 12th Five Year Plan, which has started this year, is also expected to be discussed with the commission. |
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Book fair to conclude today
Srinagar, June 9 The book fair was organised by the NBT in collaboration with the Sahitya Akademi and the Jammu and Kashmir Urdu Academy at SP College. Though many book fairs are held during the summer months here, this one organised by the NBT for the first time since the eruption of
militancy has been a “trend setter”. “There has been a good response and there is a need to hold such events on a regular basis in Kashmir,” said Manas Ranjan Mahapatra, editor of the National Centre for Children’s Literature, NBT. He said due to unfavourable conditions, reading habits of people had changed. He said there was a need to organise frequent book fairs to tap the market for books related to varied fields of life. Mahapatra said the government has to play a vital role in making such events successful to propagate standard
reading material among readers. An official spokesman said the book fair, which would conclude tomorrow, has been abuzz with activities for literary people and booklovers since its inauguration. The event was inaugurated by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on June 2 in the presence of intellectuals, politicians, teachers and students. The book fair has been organised by the National Book Trust of India, which is an autonomous organisation of the Human Resource Development Department, Government of India, with an objective to create interest amongst the people, especially youth, to read books on varied subjects and enrich their knowledge. The NBT has made an effort to promote books of national and international interest with a wide range of topics, which are difficult to find in markets. Those who visited the fair included Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather; Deputy Chairman of
the state Legislative Council MY Taing; IG, Kashmir, SM Sahai and Prof Manoj Das, an eminent Indian author. The organisers had also arranged a Mehfil-e-Gazal, a seminar on Saadat Hasan Manto, and a writers’ meet in collaboration with the Academy of Art, Culture and Languages and the Sahitya
Akademy, New Delhi, today afternoon to make the event memorable. Writers’ meet Writers from the country and state, who write in different languages, participated in the writers’ meet today. They included an Indo-Nepalese writer from West Bengal MS Rai, who writes under his pen name Mahakavi Mohan Dukhun. “India is a vast country and writing in different languages is part of its integrity,” Dukhan said before participating in the meet at SP College. He said, “The Sahitya Akademi was playing its role and did not forget writers like us on these occasions.” Other writers included Nanda Singh, Apurba Kumar Saikia and Phukan Basumatary, an Assamese writer |
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Pak Rangers out to vitiate border atmosphere
Jammu, June 9 “While summers and winters do not matter to us because we remain alert 24x7 and cannot afford to lower our guard but certainly there is a lot of ‘activity’ on their (Pakistan’s) side these days,” said a senior BSF officer, who wished anonymity. He, however, refused to share details of “activities” on Pakistan’s side saying that doing so may hamper the strategy of the BSF to counter their moves. From truce violations to cover fire to militants trying to snipe at our troops, they (Pakistan Rangers) are adopting every possible ploy to vitiate the atmosphere, he said. “We are constantly monitoring movement of militants, who are being shifted from one launch pad to another on the other side. And, in the given scenario we cannot rule out one odd intrusion attempt by them along the border in the days ahead,” said the officer. He disclosed that in the past three years Pakistani militants, who enjoy covert and sometimes overt support of the Pakistan Rangers, could not succeed in their intrusion bids along the 192-km-international border. Going by our preparedness and alertness, they will think twice before trying something foolish but certainly they can vitiate the atmosphere at the international border by sniping or indulging in stand-off fire engaging our troops in unwarranted and unprovoked gunfire, he added. The officer said this year so far Pakistan Rangers had violated the mutually brokered ceasefire four times. “They violated the ceasefire on December 30 last year and this year on March 16, May 18 and May 30,” he said. He also recalled that on June 1 alert BSF jawans had killed a Pakistani intruder, suspected to be a militant in Samba sector. However, the border guarding force recently had to lose one of its jawans Deepak Singh in a hostile fire, which had come from the other side of the border. On April 29, The Tribune had reported that at least three to four groups of 15 to 20 armed Pakistani militants had been moved by Pakistan Rangers close to the international border. In 2008 and 2009, at least 14 persons, including the BSF DIG, OP
Tanwar, fell prey to bullets of Pakistani militants along the border.
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Show of strength by Youth Cong leaders
Jammu, June 9 While newly elected vice-president Pranab Shagotra’s supporters organised a rally in Jammu city to felicitate him, Satish Sharma, who won election as president, Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha seat, exhibited his strength in the border town of Khour by organising a rally there. While newly elected president Shah Nawaz Choudhary’s supporters had organised a rally on June 5, it was Shagotra’s turn to showcase his strength today. A large number of Shagotra supporters assembled in front of the Exhibition Ground to start a rally. The cavalcade passed through the Shalamar Road, Ranbir Market, Raghunath Bazar, Residency Road before assembling at the Congress headquarters at Shaheedi Chowk, where Dharam Pal Sharma, vice-president, Pradesh Congress Committee, along with other leaders felicitated Shagotra. Shagotra said the Youth Congress under Rahul Gandhi would launch a drive against corruption. For the purpose, the PYC activists would raise awareness among people, especially the youth of the state, about the negative impact of corruption on the society. He said the elected office-bearers of the PYC would visit all Assembly segments of the state to take stock of the problems of people and highlight these at appropriate levels. He admitted that the problem of unemployment needed an immediate attention. Manjit Singh, former minister, Karan Bhagat, Neeraj Gupta, Sanjiv Sharma, Mehboob Azad and Aman Mahajan also welcomed Shagotra. Another rally was organised at Khour under the leadership of Satish Sharma, who was recently elected president of the Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha constituency in a one-sided contest. Manjeet Singh, block president, Youth Congress, and other leaders were also present in the rally, which was held in the main market of Khour.
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J&K forced to buy back power at higher rates
Jammu, June 9 The state currently exports 220 MW from the Baghilar project and 300-400 MW from the Salal, Uri-I and Dul Hasti projects to meet the requirements of Delhi, Rajasthan and even West Bengal. Sources say if the state has to buy an additional quota of power from its own projects, it has to pay higher rates to the NTPC to meet its requirement. The state gets 47 per cent power from the Salal project and a mere 22 per cent from the Uri project. “We can’t do much, as we have signed an agreement with the NHPC to export half the power produced at the Baghilar project and a set quota from the other projects executed by the corporation. Despite having surplus electricity, the state has to face the shortage of power and buy units at the cost set by the NPTC from time to time,” says Shabir Ahmed Khan, Minister of State for Power. Khan says the state is helpless, as the NHPC has invested crores of rupees in building power projects in the state. “The corporation is not doing anything wrong. It has made huge investments here. The state needs to do a lot to streamline the power sector,” the minister adds. These projects have been set up by the NHPC on a “build, operate and transfer” basis but the state is unable to buy back the projects due to lack of financial strength. “The only viable option is to get back control of hydroelectric projects by paying the building cost. But the poor financial health of the state will not allow any transfer in the near future,” says an official of the J&K Power Development Corporation. Officials say both regions of the state are facing acute shortage of power, despite its significant power production capability. The government has to depend on the Northern Grid for additional power. Against the requirement of 2,300 MW power, the state currently receives just 1,500 MW, facing a shortfall of over 800 MW. Jammu is being supplied with 650 to 700 MW power, while the Valley gets over 800 MW. This forces the department to impose scheduled and unscheduled power cuts in areas that witness searing temperatures. A sub-committee constituted by the Omar government had recommended taking steps to transfer the Uri-I and Salal projects back to the state, but the process is going on at a snail’s pace. The NHPC has so far completed four hydroelectric projects in different parts of the state, adding 1,680 MW electricity to the grid. The state produces 690 MW at Salal project, 480 MW at Uri-1, 390 MW at Dulhasti and 120 MW at
Sewa-II.
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Civil society for ban on tobacco products
Srinagar, June 9 An interactive session held by the Voluntary Health Organisation (VHA) at the Civil Defence centre dwelt upon various ill effects and health hazards of tobacco products on personal and social health. It was observed that the government had failed to implement the smoking ban in letter and in spirit. Members of the VHA said the sale of gutkha had increased over the past several months, as it was being used by non-local workers in the Valley. “They have carried it to Kashmir and now it is being sold here, making the local youth vulnerable to it,” said AM Mir of
the VHA. Former Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court
Justice BA Khan said social and voluntary organisations should work for social reformation. He said the government should impose a complete ban on the production of tobacco and its centres by making strenuous laws. He also sought to create an independent agency for the implementation of laws, banning the use of tobacco products and smoking in public places. Justice Khan also stressed the need for launching a social movement highlighting
ill effects of tobacco products both on health and social front.
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Polo match held at
Drass
Srinagar, June 9 Omar said Drass, Kargil and Leh in the recent years had become an attraction for national polo players and polo events held by the Lalit Hospitality Group in the region had given a fillip to the activity. He said the government was providing required attention to the development of sports and youth associated with it. He said while games nurtured talent and provided youth with healthy extra-curricular activities, the holding
of national and state-level events generated substantial economy for the people. The Manipur team won the final of the polo tournament, beating the Drass and Leh teams. The Chief Minister gave away the prizes and trophies to the winners, runners-up teams and individual players. Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Qamar Ali Akhoon, MP Ghulam Hassan Khan and Chief Executive Councillor, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil, Kachu Ahmad Ali Khan were present on the occasion. |
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Himalayan geology in Ladakh holds great research potential: Governor
Srinagar, June 9 The Governor said the exchange visits of scientists and students from various institutions of higher learning and high-end research from the country and abroad facilitated mutually-beneficial collaborations for sharing research outcomes and experiences. Interacting with the visiting scientists, the Governor, who is also the Chancellor of the University of Kashmir, shared his past experiences of working in Ladakh in the early 1960s. He said Ladakh is a fascinating area where considerable scientific work could be undertaken on Himalayan geology. Welcoming the scientists, he hoped that their visit would pave the way for varied Indo-Finnish scientific research collaborations. The scientists spoke about some of their research projects in the Himalayan geology arena with the Governor. Prof Talat briefed the Governor about the visit of the scientists from Finland. He told the Governor that they would hold discussions with the faculty and students of the University of Kashmir and discuss possibilities of future research collaborations with the varsity and students exchange programme. — TNS
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National integration camps help children understand cultures: Guv
Srinagar, June 9 The Governor said this while interacting with around 200 children from various states and Union Territories of the country during their visit to Raj Bhawan here today. The children are participating in a week-long 35th “National Learn to Live Together Camp” organised by the Indian Council for Child Welfare, New Delhi, from June 3 to 10 at Srinagar. The Governor lauded the efforts of the council in organising such camps and assured support for holding these in the Ladakh and Jammu regions in the future. He appreciated the Acting Director General of Police, K Rajendra, for providing help in organising the camp. He said such interactions contributed towards strengthening national integration. The Governor and and his wife Usha Vohra interacted with the children, enquired about the areas they belonged to and the places they had liked the most in the Valley. They invited them to visit the state again and wished them a bright future. In her welcome address, Gita Siddhartha, president, Indian Council for Child Welfare, New Delhi, dwelt on the evolution and history of the council and the aim of organising such camps. She also touched upon the activities undertaken by the council across the country.
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Vehicles to get tamper-proof number plates from this month
Srinagar, June 9 The minister said this while reviewing the functioning of the Transport Department at a meeting here. According to the HSRP system, only authorised dealers can fit in these tamper-proof plates on vehicles and the entire process will have to be completed at the regional transport office. The system has been made mandatory by the Centre to prevent counterfeiting and duplication of registration plates while ensuring uniformity in size and colour. Akhoon urged officials present in the meeting to carry out regular checks on vehicles to avoid overloading, rash driving and reckless teenage driving, which were the main causes of accidents. He stressed the need for launching a massive drive against traffic violators. He told the officials to organise public awareness camps at district headquarters to sensitise people about the benefits of abiding traffic rules and repercussion of violations. Akhoon was informed that the Transport Department had generated Rs 120 crore revenue last year while computerisation of office records, especially driving licences, would be completed by August this year.
— TNS
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KPL phase-II inaugurated
Srinagar, June 9 “The KPL is a revolutionary initiative by the Army to discover budding cricketers in the Valley, besides engage a large number of youths from all the districts of Kashmir in constructive activities,” Rather said while kickstarting the KPL phase-II, 2012, at Delhi Public School, Srinagar. “The youths of the state have enough talent and potential, which needs to be channelised and polished in a befitting manner. The success of the KPL-2011 has proved that the tournament has now changed into a grand sports movement and every youngster is eager to participate in it,” the Minister said. Minister of Youth Services and Sports RS Chib said the KPL would be broad-based into the Jammu and Kashmir Premier League (J&KPL) to achieve objectives of bringing the youths of the state into mainstream national cricket. Fourteen teams from 10 districts were selected for participation in the phase-II of the tournament.
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Five dead, 40 injured in Katra bus accident
Katra, June 9 The victims have been identified as Vijay Kumar, 51 (son of Tara Chand, resident of Katra), Devi Dass, 42 (son of Sidhu Ram, resident of Himachal Pradesh), Devinder Kumar, 26 (son of Sohan Lal, resident of Doda), Varsha Rajan, 24 (wife of VP Rajan) and Deepika Rajan, 4, (daughter of VP Rajan). At least 25 injured passengers are undergoing treatment at Emergency Hospital, Katra. Those critically injured have been shifted to the Government Medical College, Jammu. Jagjit Singh, DIG, Udhampur-Reasi range, is supervising the rescue work.
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Army foils infiltration bid in Rajouri
Rajouri, June 9 As the persons came closer to the post on the Indian side, they were challenged by the Army jawans. The intruders went into hiding in bushes and opened small arms fire. In retaliation, Indian Army troops fired in the direction of the intruders. The exchange of fire lasted for some minutes. The intruders probably retreated, taking the advantage of darkness and thick vegetation. However, a search was launched at day-break to look for any injured person or leftover stores in the area. Reports said a massive manhunt was launched to trace out the infiltrators. The search was on till reports last came in. —
OC
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Dal Lake
Srinagar, June 9 The Division Bench comprising Justice Virender Singh and Justice Hasnain Masoodi heard the
arguments in the case and directed the government to file the action taken report on all orders issued by them in this regard. A PIL was filed by a law student, Sheikh Tahir Iqbal, in the High Court after which the court had been supervising the lake. When the PIL was filed, the lake was under threat from encroachment and onslaught of plantation.
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Prior to 2009, serpentine queues outside ration depots and widespread protests against the shortage of kerosene, LPG and sub-standard quality of food grain were commonplace. The credibility of the Consumers Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) Department was at its lowest ebb.
as they organised rallies in their respective areas today.
While newly elected vice-president Pranab Shagotra’s supporters organised a rally in Jammu city to felicitate him, Satish Sharma, who won election as president, Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha seat, exhibited his strength in the border town of Khour by organising a rally there.
Srinagar, June 9
Katra, June 9
The Chief Minister has asked the DGP to find out the agency behind such posters. We will assess the security of panches and
sarpanches. We will provide security wherever it is needed