The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Situation conducive to phased withdrawal of AFSPA: Omar Says not sure if Friday attack on a hotel was a militant strike Azhar Qadri Tribune News Service Srinagar, October 21 Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said he would continue the pursuit of phased withdrawal of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) despite clear rejection of the demand to do so from senior Union government ministers and Army's top commanders. “As far as I am concerned … I believe it is a mission worth pursuing and I am going to pursue this objective of the phase-wise withdrawal of the AFSPA,” Omar told reporters on the sidelines of the Police Commemoration Day. Omar said the state was “comfortably placed” for the phase-wise withdrawal of the AFSPA. “But it is also no secret that the Army has publicly expressed reservation on this issue,” he said. Not only has Omar faced rejection of the demand from the Army and the Union Defence Ministry but last week Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, who was on a visit to the state, made it clear that the AFSPA would not be revoked. Omar, however, today remained adamant saying it was a “good time” to go ahead on the AFSPA revocation. “The situation and the circumstances allow it, the militancy is at an all-time low, casualties are at an all-time low, you continue to have areas where the Army has no requirement for operations and, therefore, this is as good time as any,” he said. Omar also stopped short of terming the Friday attack near a Srinagar hotel as a militant assault, saying investigation was going on into the case. “Unlike you in the media, I don’t have the luxury of jumping to conclusion whether it was a militancy attack or not,” the Chief Minister said. The police on Friday said militants had attempted to attack an Army convoy on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, failing which they tried to enter a nearby hotel and “fired indiscriminately killing one employee of the hotel and injuring two others”. Omar also said some of the recent attacks on the panchayat members “do not appear” to be a part of the militancy. ‘no upheaval in Delhi’ Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday said Parliamentary elections would be held on schedule in 2014. He said it was between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi to decide whether the latter should join the government. “This is between the Prime Minister and Rahul Gandhi whether he should join the government or not… Our Prime Minister has made it clear that Rahul should be in the government,” he said. He said he does not see the things happening in New Delhi as an “upheaval”. “I don’t see any upheaval. I only see that ploys are being used to promote a new party,” Omar said referring to Arvind Kejriwal and a spate of protests and ‘exposes’ he made before the media.
	Cong to pressurise NC on holding BDC poll within time frame Dinesh Manhotra Tribune News Service Bishnah, October 21 Facing criticism from the Opposition for deferring the Block Development Council (BDC) elections at the eleventh hour, the Congress today hinted about exerting pressure on its coalition partner, National Conference (NC), to conduct these elections within a time frame while incorporating provisions of the 73rd Amendment of the Indian Constitution in the existing J&K Panchayati Raj Act. Addressing a function to felicitate martyrs’ families at Bishnah, Congress leaders tried to convince the gathering that the elections would be held within a time frame. “I have discussed this issue with PCC chief Saifuddin Soz and Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand so as to get the election process completed within a time frame,” Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said. He said local Congress leaders had been asked to get the provisions of the 73rd Amendment extended to the state. While trying to take the credit of forcing the government to make a provision of reservations in the BDC poll, Azad said a resolution was passed in the convention of the Congress party six months back in which this demand was raised. “I had moved that resolution in the convention,” Azad said, adding that he was forced to give a hard-hitting statement because the government had decided to go for the BDC elections without making a provision for reservations. “The Panchayati Raj system in Jammu and Kashmir must be at par with that in other parts of the country,” he said. The Deputy CM also announced that the poll would be held very soon and that there was no question of further delay. He said the Congress was committed to strengthening the panchayats in the state and there was no question of diluting the stand. He defended the decision of the party to get the elections delayed. “There was no fun in conducting the elections without the provision of reservations,” he said. The government had cancelled the BDC elections on October 15. The Congress had warned the NC against holding the elections without incorporating the 73rd Amendment. Meanwhile, to counter the campaign launched by the Congress faction headed by PCC chief Saifuddin Soz, loyalists of Ghulam Nabi Azad today presented a united face in a function which was organised by Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Gulchain Singh Charak. Union Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal was the chief guest in the function. Soz’ faction is claiming that it is the result of their efforts that the BDC elections were deferred. Today, the loyalists of Ghulam Nabi Azad shared a common platform to give a message that they are united. It was for the first time in the past two years that all the loyalists of Azad were together.
	Free medicines for patients in govt hospitals: Azad Planning Commission okays Union Health Ministry’s proposal Dinesh Manhotra Tribune News Service Bishnah (Jammu), October 21 Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today announced that the Planning Commission has approved a proposal of the Health Ministry to provide free medicines to patients in all government-run health institutions across the country. “After getting approval from the Planning Commission, the Health Department has started the process to implement this scheme in a phased manner”, Azad said at a function to felicitate martyrs’ families of Bishnah Assembly segment of Jammu district. The minister announced that in the first year 25 per cent of total states would be covered under this scheme and within five years the whole country would be brought under the purview of this scheme. “The Health Ministry was fighting with the Planning Commission for the approval of this scheme”, he said and hoped that this scheme would give a big relief to the poor and middle-class patients. Azad announced that after getting a green signal from the Planning Commission the scheme would start from December this year. He said all medicines would be available free of cost in all hospitals, sub-district hospitals, primary health centres and community health centres of the country. Though Azad announced that the whole country would be covered under this scheme, he said hilly states like Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, North-East and Himachal Pradesh would be given priority in the first year’s 25 per cent quota. “Due to their topography hilly areas require first priority”, he said and hoped that with the implementation of this scheme health facility would be accessible to every section of the society. The minister also emphasised on the need of creating awareness about Janani-Shishu Suraksha Karyakram launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to provide free services to pregnant women for deliveries and neo-natal care, if needed, up to a month after birth. This scheme was launched to keep a check on high maternal and infant mortality rate in the country. Responding to the demand of local residents, Azad said the Union Health Ministry had already released funds for the upgrade of Bishnah hospital, which caters to the need of inhabitants of the border areas. The Central government has already released first instalment of Rs 3 crore for this project.
	Cancellation of elections hampering functioning of panchayats Ehsan Fazili Tribune News Service Srinagar, October 21 Nearly two years after the elections for 4,128 panchayats were held in the state, the functioning of these democratic institutions has once again hit a roadblock with the deferment of the block development councils (BDCs) elections, which were scheduled to be held next month. This decision by the state government in the wake of a rift between the two coalition partners, the Congress and the National Conference, has set to rest the debate over issues related to panchayat empowerment. It has, however, given rise to questions on issues related to the functioning of the panchayats. While the Congress seeks implementation of the 73rd Amendment, the NC claims that the spirit of the provisions under the amendment have already been incorporated. “There is no major difference as all the 14 departments covered under the panchayats include the 29 departments figured in the Central Act,” said an official. The panchayat elections were held between April and June last year, while the activities of these institutions have been restricted to the works mainly under the MNREGA, though 14 different government departments come under the purview of the Panchayat Raj institutions. There have been differences between the coalition partners over the empowerment of the panchayats ever since the elections were held. Opposition parties such as the PDP have also been crying hoarse over the empowerment of these institutions. While the Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, during his recent visit to the state favoured “devolution of powers” to the grass-root levels, his party has taken up the issue pertaining to the 73rd Amendment vociferously with the government. PCC state president Saifuddin Soz opines that Rahul Gandhi was clear when he referred to the “devolution of powers” to the panchayats. “We must do it democratically,” Soz said. “We will continue to fight for the incorporation of the 73rd Amendment,” he said. The panchayat members, meanwhile, have been taking to the streets in favour of this demand. “Only works under the MGNREGA have been going on so far,” said sarpanch Abdul Ahmad Sheikh from Budgam district of central Kashmir. He said funds were also not pouring in for the past two months and lamented there was no progress in the activities of different government departments, even as the government claims that 14 departments were included in the ambit of the panchayats. “The elections to the BDCs could go a long way in initiating developmental works at the ground level,” said Sheikh.
	Valley’s highs and lows, Lal Chowk has seen it all Azhar Qadri Tribune News Service Srinagar, October 21 It is a place where Kashmir’s history has been canvassed in poetry and slogans. On Saturday evening last week, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah drove Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to Lal Chowk, where they shopped for shawls and fruits. It was another page of history being written on the congested roads of Srinagar’s emblematic landmark. The one-kilometre stretch from Regal Chowk to Jehangir bridge on one side of the road and Amira Kadal on the other - famously called Lal Chowk in local parlance - epitomises highs and lows of the Valley. The Lal Chowk - named after the Red Square of Moscow during the times of the Soviet Union in 1940 - has seen every shade of Kashmir’s ever-changing political landscape. “There was a group within the National Conference which was communist and socialist-oriented. It was called the Progressive Group. That group named the place Lal Chowk (literally meaning Red Square),” noted Kashmiri historian Fida Mohammad Hasnain told The Tribune. Noor Mohammad Baba, professor of Political Science at University of Kashmir, says the place is “symbolically important”. “It has been central to every political activity here. Every major political community has symbolic places; Kashmir has the Lal Chowk,” Baba said. Lal Chowk was the place chosen by Sheikh Abdullah and Pandit Jawaharlal Lal Nehru to express their admiration for each other in the immediate aftermath of the first India-Pakistan war of 1947. Abdullah, who was then supposed to the most influential leader of Kashmir, had read out a Persian couplet to express his admiration for Nehru. “Man tu shudam, tu man shudi (I became you and you became me),” said Abdullah at a rally in Lal Chowk in 1948. “This place is politically and historically significant. All major political movements began from Lal Chowk,” Hasnain said. On Republic Day in 2011, BJP’s top brass was at loggerheads with the Jammu and Kashmir government over unfurling of the tricolour at the Lal Chowk. The Lal Chowk was placed under siege as the BJP stalwarts - Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley - heading to Lal Chowk were detained at Jammu Airport and sent back to New Delhi. This week, Lal Chowk painted another picture of Kashmir, with the Union Home Minister and state’s Chief Minister as the protagonists, shopping as they were for fruits and shawls, and thus making a powerful political statement. “This place is central to almost every decision which has shaped Kashmir’s fate,” Hasnain notes.
	Minor produced in court Lawyer says police forced the boy to admit he was a major Azhar Qadri Tribune News Service Srinagar, October 21 A 15-year-old boy, arrested on the charge of throwing stones at a protest demonstration in Srinagar’s old city, was forced by the police to admit that he was a major in a local court here, his lawyer has alleged. The boy, a resident of Gojwara locality of Srinagar, was arrested earlier this week and lodged at the police station at Maharaj Gunj. He was produced at a local court here yesterday where he said he was a Class XI student. His statement makes him a 17-year-old, which means he is legally a major in the state. Moments later the boy’s lawyer produced evidence in the form of school certificates proving that the boy was 15-year-old, making him a minor. “Police has tried to mislead the court by showing that he is a major. Even the boy was forced to admit that he was a major,” boy’s lawyer Babar Qadri alleged. The boy was arrested by the Maharaj Gunj police station on the charges of stone pelting and booked under Section 148 and 152 of the RPC. The lawyer also pleaded before the court that he was allegedly threatened by the police personnel who were escorting the minor boy. The police personnel escorting the boy also stopped a photojournalist from taking pictures of the minor inside the Saddar court complex. The minor boy was later sent to juvenile home at Harwan on the outskirts of the city here for six days. A police official in charge of the Maharaj Gunj police station said the boy was arrested on the charges of stone-pelting. He did not divulge more details. Amnesty International, in its recent report, had stated it has documented cases of “children, that is, persons below the age of 18,” in Kashmir who were detained without trial under the PSA after their age was “falsely” recorded as being above 18. “Both Mohammad Rafiq Sheikh and Murtaza Manzoor Panzoo were detained at the age of 17, but their grounds of detention stated that they were 19 years of age,” as per a report of the Amnesty International released last week.
	Govt considering salary hike for PAs of legislators Proposal submitted to Cabinet for approval, decision awaited Ishfaq Tantry Tribune News Service Srinagar, October 21 The Jammu and Kashmir Government has initiated the process to hike the remuneration of personal assistants (PAs) of the legislators in the state. The proposal to hike the perks of the PAs has been submitted to the Cabinet for approval through the General Administration Department. However, the decision in this regard is awaited. This was revealed in the official data presented during the recently held autumn session of the Assembly. Since May 2007, there has been no revision in the remuneration of PAs working with the J&K legislators. The law-makers of the state have been demanding the same for past few years. The issue was also raised by various legislators during the budget session of the Assembly in March. However, since then no orders have been issued by the government in this regard. “The matter has been processed by the department (of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs) and submitted to the Cabinet for approval through the General Administration Department on October 5 after receiving the concurrence of the Finance Department on October 4,” the official papers submitted by the government in the Assembly revealed. “Orders in this regard will be issued immediately on approval by the Cabinet or as per the decision of the Cabinet,” it stated. Regarding the appointment of personal assistants, the handbook of rules for J-K legislators states that any member may recommend any person, other than a member of his family, who is a permanent resident of the state, for the post of personal assistant.
	PDP committed to fair governance: Mufti Tribune News Service Jammu, October 21 Reiterating his resolve to deliver justice to all regions and sub-regions of the state, PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today sought support of the people to change the present inefficient and corrupt system. He observed that every section of the society and every region of the state are bearing the brunt of wrong policies being propagated by the present regime. He was addressing a function to welcome Jatinder Bhat, a businessman, who along with a large number of his supporters today joined the PDP. A number of panchayat members from different parts of the Jammu region also joined the PDP. “Attaining power is not the only aim of the PDP. I have already enjoyed important positions in the government”, he said, adding, “With the support and cooperation of the people I want to set up a new system of accountability and transparency where every section would get equal opportunities of growth and development”. The former Chief Minister reminded that the PDP-led regime in the state had proved how to change the life of people by following pro-people policies. “We had just 16 members in our kitty but we took pro-people revolutionary steps to provide justice to all sections of the society”, he said and added it was only during the PDP regime that governance consciousness was generated in the people of the state. He added that during the PDP-led regime every region and sub-region of the state were treated equally. He said the PDP envisaged a system of fair governance and transparency where people felt empowered.
	State to spend Rs 1,255 cr on road infrastructure Tribune News Service Srinagar, October 21 The state government has envisaged to spend a mammoth Rs 1,255 crore on the road infrastructure being sanctioned to the Roads and Buildings (R&B) sector under various Central government and state-sponsored schemes and district plans during 2012-13. As per the Planning and Development Department report, of the total money allotted for the development and construction of roads, the Jammu division has been allocated a budget of Rs 754.11 crore whereas Kashmir division has been provided funds worth Rs 501.75 crore. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) is financing various bridges in the state to the tune of Rs 273.37 crore. Under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY), the Union Ministry of Rural Development has authorised funds to the tune of Rs 248.32 crore to the state for 2012-13 for road connectivity to remote villages of the state. The state government has already released Rs 222.24 crore for the Kashmir division and Rs 225.61 crore for the Jammu division to the R&B Department for the uplift of road infrastructure.