Jammu, March 15
The ruling National Conference-Congress coalition's much-touted claims of 'effective governance' have taken a beating as more than 160 Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS) and district officers are holding the additional charge across the state-some of them have been "occupying" these positions for past three to four years.

As many as 400 posts of KAS and district officers are also vacant in various government departments across the state. This has resulted into administrative ad-hocism and steady dilapidation of the institution of governance.

"As many as 164 KAS and district officers have been holding the additional charge of various departments, while 400 posts of KAS and district officers are laying vacant in Jammu and Kashmir," Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said in a written reply to a question of PDP MLA Choudhary Zulfikar Ali in the Legislative Assembly.

Omar stated some district officers were holding additional charge since May 2009 and no serious efforts had been made to fill vacant posts over the years.

For instance, Chief Planning Officer Udhampur, has been holding the charge of District Statistics and Evaluation Officer, Udhampur, since September 29, 2009. Similarly, Chief Planning Officer, Ramban, has been holding the charge of District Statistics and Evaluation Officer, Ramban, since May 8, 2009.

"Stop-gap arrangement has become a norm in Jammu and Kashmir. The additional charge to a few officials along with their original postings indicates that the state continues to encourage and operate through administrative ad-hocism. Instead of blaming the ruling Omar Abdullah government, successive governments should be held responsible for the present situation," a senior bureaucrat said.

Chief Minister said the process of induction into the KAS, in respect of the vacancies, accrued up to January 1, 2013, has been started after necessary proposals having been received from the administrative departments.

"The exercise is expected to be completed shortly, after which all the vacancies at the level of the time scale of the KAS would be filled up. In the meantime, officers are being promoted on officiating basis which will ensure the filling up of these posts expeditiously," Omar said.

He said 33 junior scale KAS officers of the 2012-I batch were undergoing practical training. After the completion of their training in July, 2013, these officers would be deployed against the vacant posts, he said, As many as 117 more officers of the 2012-II Batch, who were presently undergoing training, would also be deployed in the different departments after the completion of their training which would help fill the gaps.

"About other vacant posts in different districts, the respective administrative departments have been advised to expedite the finalisation of the promotion proposals of eligible officers in consultation with the PSC and DPC so that the problem relating to vacant positions is minimised considerably," Omar said.

Jammu, March 15
Demanding stern action against anti-national elements in Jammu and Kashmir as well as politicians supporting separatist elements, the Dogra Front and the Shiv Sena took out a protest rally in Jammu today. Protesters also burnt the flag of Pakistan to lodge protest against the country for its continued support to terrorists. The rally passed through Raghunath Bazzar, Hari Market and other areas before culminating at the Press Club.

Shiv Sena district unit president Ashok Gupta expressed concern over the attitude of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who had not even condemned the killing of five CRPF men by terrorists. “Our Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid hosts Pakistan PM while our CM Omar Abdullah is shedding tears for the mastermind of Parliament attack convict is shameful,” protesters said. He said the country’s foreign policy must be made to deal with Pakistan with a heavy hand.

“There should be no business, friendly cricket matches or talks with Pakistan and India should destroy terror training camps in PoK,” Gupta said.

Protesters also alleged that in the state Assembly, the ruling as well as the main opposition party was glorifying a terrorist Afzal Guru convicted in Parliament attack, which would not be tolerated by nationalist people of the state.

They questioned why the CRPF jawans were carrying lathis instead of guns despite being in such a tense region and demanded a probe into the matter as to why they had lathis in their hands instead of guns.

“It is the same CRPF which guards the leaders who are using hateful words against India besides force and when these soldiers were gunned down by terrorists, they failed to even condemn the incident,” Gupta rued.

He also criticised Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde’s statement in Parliament on the terror attack, saying he should have spoken about the government’s moves to counter terror and there should be no dilution in the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Kashmir.

Jammu, March 15
Oil companies will approve 172 new LPG agencies for the state soon. The state government stated this in the Legislative Assembly. The government has also taken the issue of enhancement of the cap on gas cylinders had been taken up with the Centre.

Minister for CAPD and Transport, Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan, said the new gas agencies would be opened in all leftover blocks in the state. Replying to a question by Abdul Gani Malik in the Upper House today, the minister said home delivery of LPG gas had been started in Jammu and Srinagar. This, he said, had yielded fruitful results at the ground level. The KYC was open for registration of gas connections of those consumers who had not registered their connections, he said.

The minister said there were no crises on account of availability of LPG in the state. He said the Centre had already raised the cap from six subsidised refills to nine subsidised refills, which had addressed the concerns of consumers to a great extent.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, Bharat Petroleum Limited, and the Indian Oil Corporation distribute refills in the state.

While the oil companies operating in Jammu and Kashmir have over the years increased their retail outlets for petrol and diesel manifold, they had miserably failed to expand the crucial LPG dealership network in the state for better distribution of cooking gas, he added.

As per all-India norms, there should have been 1,700 distributors here to cater to the requirement of 10 lakh LPG consumers, he said.

Jammu, March 15
Paramedical staff, engaged under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), has not received their salaries for the past six months. Alleging exploitation at the hands of Omar Abdullah government, the employees have warned of launching an agitation.

Under the banner of the Jammu and Kashmir Medical Employees Federation, women multipurpose health workers have alleged that despite assurances given by the Health Minister that their salaries would be released, nothing had been done in this regard.

Federation president Susheel Sudan said it was very unfortunate that hundreds of paramedics were deprived of their salaries in violation of the human rights. The NRHM employees have warned to launch a statewide agitation if the government, which had engaged them under the centrally sponsored health schemes, did not meet their demands. “We are finding it tough to fend for our families in the absence of wages. Our children are suffering. Nobody is listening to us," they said.

He also appealed to the government to initiate measures to regularise contractual NHRM staff on the lines of Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, a Centrally-sponsored scheme. He also appealed to the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Chief Minister and the state Health Minister to intervene and revise salaries of the NRHM staff, including the paramedics and the management staff.

Jammu, March 15
The Apex Project Clearance Committee approved 12 projects in medium and large sector involving investment of more than Rs 370 crore today. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Iqbal Khanday. The projects are likely to create 3,000 employment opportunities directly.

The projects include the establishment of a Mega Food Park in SPV mode at a cost of Rs 78.64 crore with the financial assistance of Rs 50 crore from the Union Ministry of Food Processing Industry, at IGC, Lassipora, over 400 kanal area. The committee also cleared four Integrated Controlled Atmosphere Cold Stores with the capacity of 20,000 MTs at a cost of Rs 180 crore. Four industrial units were also approved for Jammu region. —TNS

on the anvil
The park will have multi-purpose cold storage, warehouse, slaughter facility for sheep and poultry, pack-house/service unit, quality control lab, reefer and collection vans, effluent treatment plant as common facilities with built-up sheds

Jammu, March 15
Minister for PHE, Irrigation & Flood Control Sham Lal Sharma has said the government would focus on conservation and preservation of water resources to meet the ever-growing drinking water needs in the state. To begin with, 10 check dams would be constructed in each PHE division which would recharge the water table.

Replying to the discussion on demands for grants of PHE, Irrigation & Flood Control Departments in the House today, the minister said there were 14,028 habitations in the state, out of which, 8,878 had been fully covered and 5,150 habitations were partially covered.

He said during the next financial year, 1,407 new habitations benefiting over 11 lakh population would be covered with potable drinking water facilities. The government has also proposed to install 3350 Mark-II hand pumps at vulnerable locations to meet the drinking water requirements, he said.

To meet the ever-growing drinking water needs of Jammu city, he said, the government will soon take up the prestigious Chenab drinking water project, estimated to cost Rs 1,600 crore in two phases. This prestigious project will meet the demands of Greater Jammu and adjoining areas on completion, said the minister.

To upgrade the existing PHE infrastructure in the state, Sham said, Rs 315.69 crore had been expended under NRDWP during this fiscal, while the Government has submitted a detailed plan of Rs 561 crore to the Central government for funding under this programme during the next financial year.

He said to ensure quality water to the people, 46 water testing laboratories had been set up at different places and this year, 16,105 water tests had been conducted. For this purpose, 5,333 water testing kits have been distributed till date.

He said a State Water Resources Regulatory Authority was set up in October 2012 to ensure judicious and optimum utilisation of water resources of the state as per J&K Water Resources Act 2010. He said an amount of Rs 1289.92 crore has been realised on account of water usage charges on hydro-electric projects in the state by end of February 2013.

To ensure transparency in the procurement of material in the department, the government has decided to frame a new procurement policy and from April 1, 2013, all procurements will be made as per the new policy after inviting open tenders, the minister maintained.

In order to make judicious use of water, water meters would be installed in all the commercial establishments during the next financial year, he stated. As many as 5,532 water meters have been issued to various divisions for installation, he said.

Referring to the absorption of daily wagers, the minister said the matter is already under the active consideration of the government.

Jammu, March 15
The employees of the J&K State Sports Council, who had pinned high hopes on the recently held general council meeting for the grant of pension benefits, suffered a jolt as the Finance Department has refused the proposal.

Sources said during the meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is also the president of the Sports Council, the members of the House apprised that the pension scheme of the State Sports Council was agreed on the analogy of Khadi, Village and Industries Board pattern by the Finance Department. It had not been adopted as yet, despite the fact that there was no financial liability upon the government up to 2026.

The Secretary, Sports Council, Dalip Thusu further said in view of the New Pension Scheme (NPS) adopted by the Government in 2010, the Finance Department had refused to grant pension benefits to departmental societies and desired that the Sports Council could join NPS tier-II. Besides, there was no social security scheme in existence with the state government, as per the earlier decision of the Sports Council, he said.

Sources added that the Commissioner/Secretary to Government, Youth Services and Sports, Technical Education, had also suggested that NPS could be adopted by the employees of the Sports Council, which would take care of their social security after retirement but the proposal was not accepted.

Dilip added that the need was outlined for decentralisation of financial powers as it was felt that everything in the council was centralised at the secretary level only. Sports Minister, who is also the vice-president of Sports Council, had already delegated drawing and disbursing powers to accounts officers and executive engineers, as per the procedure in vogue in other organisations, subject to ratification by the General Council.

Dilip had apprised the Chief Minister that all the decisions in financial matters shall be taken by the accounts officer and executive engineers with the prior approval of Secretary, Sports Council and only the cheque signing authority had been given to them.

The proposal was agreed to by the Finance Department. It was also decided that modifications in the existing constitution of the J&K State Sports Council be carried out as per the need through the committee to be constituted by the Sports Minister and submit its report in the next meeting of the council for adoption.

Katra, March 15
A two-day National Conference on algebra, analysis and applications was inaugurated by Prof SK Jain, Vice-Chancellor, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), Katra, today. The conference was organised by School of Mathematics, SMVDU and is funded by CSIR & UGC.

In his inaugural address Prof Jain recalled the works of great ancient Indian mathematicians like Aryabhatta & Bhaskara and mathematicians of modern times like Ramanujan & Harishchandra. He highlighted the importance of mathematics in other areas too and appreciated the effort of the school for organising the conference.

On the occasion Prof VK Bhat, Director, School of Mathematics & Dean, College of Sciences, highlighted the importance of certain aspects of algebra & applications in other branches of mathematics and other subjects like biotechnology, computer science, humanities and management.

While addressing the gathering Prof RK Sharma (IIT, Delhi) said people without mathematical background could be motivated towards the study of mathematics. He also highlighted the verses from Vedas about the importance of mathematics. 

Jammu, March 15
The government has taken several far-reaching steps to restore the democratic character of cooperative societies by holding their elections. This was stated by Minister of State for Cooperatives Manohar Lal Sharma.

He said the activities of cooperative societies had been diversified to new economic frontiers to give a new dimension to the cooperative movement in Jammu and Kashmir.

Sharma said the primary objective of the department was to create awareness among the general masses, particularly educated unemployed youth of the state by organising and encouraging them to form cooperative societies, enabling them to make their livelihood after undertaking gainful commercial activities under the cooperative ambit.

To give impetus to the employability, the department was able to register 127 new cooperative societies with an aggregate membership of 2,888 during 2011-12 and 2012-13 in different viable commercial disciplines, said Sharma. To further strengthen the cooperative movement in the state, he said the department had implemented Integrated Cooperative Development Project (ICDP) funded by NCDC.

Rajouri, March 15
The district police distributed bags, books, notebooks and other study material among poor and needy children in a remote Budh Khanari village in Darhal area of district Rajouri yesterday. The stationery was distributed under the Civic Action Programme.

Hundreds of schoolchildren, sarpanches, panches and other villagers attended the function held to distribute the stationery.

The chief guest, DIG, Rajouri-Poonch Range, Danesh Rana, distributed the stationery among 128 poor and needy children drawn from Budh Khanari and Khoriwali areas. Rana emphasised on the need to provide education to children as only they could ensure a better future for the region.

Mubassir Latifi, SP, Rajouri, said the state police was trying to make the people more literate and aware about their legal rights. The police would leave no stone unturned to help the poor and needy, harness their talent in sports and cultural activities by providing a platform to the young and children, he said.

Sarpanches, panches also requested for organizing such programmes in future also for the over all development of their children.

Rajouri, March 15
A block-level awareness-cum-orientation camp was organised by the Department of Rural Development, Rajouri, at Dak Bungalow, Manjakote, today, under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan programme.

Sarpanches and other elected panchayat representatives, ASHA workers, teachers, Anganwadi supervisors and workers of the Sunderbani block, besides field officials of the Rural Development Department, participated.

Awareness camps under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan have been organised in all blocks of Rajouri District since February, under the guidance of Saugat Biswas, District Development Commissioner, Rajouri, by involving elected sarpanches, panches and grass-root functionaries of Rural Development, Social Welfare, School Education and Health Departments, to disseminate the message of sanitation and hygiene among the rural masses and trigger the demand for sanitary facilities through behavioural change.

District Panchayat Officer, Rajouri and Block Development Officer, Manjakote, delivered detailed lectures on the objectives, salient features and different components of the Abhiyan, the newly launched flagship programme of Government of India.

They emphasised upon the importance of individual and community hygiene and the need of creating sanitary facilities in rural areas.

The District Panchayat Officer also stressed upon the community-led and people-centred approach to the programme.

The participants were given tips about methods of avoiding water-borne and other diseases which can be avoided by maintaining basic sanitation in their houses and surroundings in the panchayat.

The importance of village water and sanitation committees in the implementation of the programme was also stressed upon in the camp and the participants were asked to disseminate the message and importance of sanitation.

Dr Arvind Karwani, District Panchayat Officer, Rajouri, Nazar Mohammed Mir, Tehsildar Manjakote, Qudeer Ul Rehman, CDPO, Mohammed Iqbal, Block Development Office, Dr Yahpaul and other officers of government departments also attended the camp.

Jammu, March 15
Minister for Youth Services and Sports Taj Mohi-u-din inaugurated the office of United Cricket Federation of India (UCFI) at Jammu, near Bathindi Morh today.

He was the chief guest at the function. Speaking on the occasion, he assured UCFI president Safer Ahmed of his full co-operation for the success of the federation office, which intended to promote valuable sports activities in the state.

He also appreciated the UCFI for its great future plan and initiative towards the development of cricket and other games in the state and the country.

Ranjeet Kalra, Chairman, Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association Media committee, was the guest of honour.

Safeer Ahmed disclosed the future plan of UCFI. He said the federation was an institution of cricket which would find out the hidden talent of cricket from each and every street, tehsil, district and province across the state and intended to give a platform to the youth of the state to show their talent.

Jammu, March 15
Socialistic Democratic Party (SDP) president Dr Darakhshan Andrabi said the State Assembly session had been turned into a “flop theatre performance” by both the ruling and the opposition representatives.

While briefing the media yesterday, Andrabi slammed the role of both the ruling coalition and the entire opposition, and said the legislators were raising a hue and cry on non- issues. “In a democratic system, the people link their hopes to the floor of the house for redressal. But unfortunately, our politicians have now nourished the habit of selling sentiments and making a mockery of the public aspirations”, Dr Andrabi said.

She added that the people of the state were facing great problems and every time they looked towards their elected representatives, they were let down. It had become a fashion for the legislators to create ruckus in the Assembly, thereby wasting the time and wealth of the common man without giving them relief and redressal of their problems, she added.

Other leaders of the party who were also present on the occasion were Ajay Kumar, Gursagar Singh, Sanjay Manhas, Kamaljeet Singh and Yousuf Rather.

Jammu, March 15
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Jammu, conducted an outreach programme today, at Galak village in Kathua district, as a part of its financial inclusion and awareness drive. The function was presided over by Jasbir Singh, Executive Director, RBI Central Office, Mumbai, while Zahida Khan, District Development Commissioner, Kathua, was the chief guest.

The programme was inaugurated by the Singh who briefed the gathering about the important functions of the RBI viz-a-viz issuing and managing currency, controlling inflation through formulation of monetary policy and expanding outreach and banking awareness. He also visited the stalls and pavilions put up by RBI, SBI and NABARD at the venue, showcasing their products and services.

Regional Director of RBI, Jammu, KK Saraf, in his welcome address, highlighted the objective of holding the financial literacy programme in the village. He also explained the banking correspondent model through which banking facilities could be availed by the rural masses.

AK Jain, Deputy General Manager, State Bank of India (SBI), assured effective banking services in the village through the Common Service Point (CSP) outlet established in the village. DDC, Kathua, Zahida Khan advised the gathering to take maximum benefit from the banking sector to improve their economic conditions.

The audience was familiarised with the history and functions of RBI through a film show. Films on features of genuine bank notes and the functioning of banking ombudsman were also shown. Literature highlighting the functions of RBI and financial literacy and education was distributed among the students and other members of the audience.

Nayeem-Ullah, President, J&K Bank, Vikas Gupta, SDM, Billawar, senior government officials and bankers attended the programme besides large number of villagers, teachers and students.