The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	PM’s scholarship scheme for J-K students makes tardy progress Only 2,896 scholarships given against 10,000; Minister admits loopholes Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 24 The ambitious Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme for J&K students, which is into its third year, is making slow progress. Data reveals that against the mandated 10,000 scholarships which should have been disbursed to eligible students in the past two years (5,000 scholarships a year), only 2,896 have so far been given. The problem is lack of awareness regarding the scheme and technical hiccups in the award of scholarships to students who have applied. The All India Council for Technical Education, which is implementing the scheme on behalf of the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry, has got hundreds of complaints about the scheme. The HRD Ministry today held deliberations with stakeholders, including students to address their concerns. HRD Minister MM Pallam Raju later admitted there were problems with the scheme but added, “We will improvise the scheme and relax the rules further to make them enabling. The idea is to integrate more and more students into the national mainstream.” Minister for New and Renewable Energy and National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah was also present at the meeting. He said he would ask the J&K Education Ministry to hold a meeting with school and college principals and direct them to help students in filling the forms. The scheme was announced in 2010. It seeks to give 5,000 scholarships in general, medical and engineering courses to students, who after completing Class XII from J&K, seek admission to any government recognised (AICTE or UGC) college outside the state. The scholarships were given from 2011 and were to be reviewed this year. At the stakeholders meet today, scores of J&K students who had applied for the scholarship but didn’t get it pointed out their problems. Some students from the Himachal Institute of Dental Sciences petitioned the Centre, saying they were rejected despite being eligible and having submitted the same set of papers as other students who got the scholarship. Shiraz Ahmed, Manzoor Mir and Khalid Bashir made the complaint. Another complaint came from Muzaffar Bhat. He was representing 15 students who had in 2012 taken admission to the Ramakrishna College of Nursing in Gwalior, in anticipation of the scholarship which had a condition — admission must be taken before September. “The college concerned delayed the registration of students beyond September, even though the students had taken admissions before September 2012. They were later removed from the college,” Bhat said. Kausar Jabeen, mother of a scholarship holder, said colleges were refusing free books and uniforms to students because money for the same had not reached them. A major lacuna which everyone pointed out was that the scheme was open only to students who had done their Class XII from the state and not outside. Petitioners sought relaxation of the rule, with the HRD Minister saying it would be reviewed by the Inter Ministerial Council reviewing the scheme. The Centre today agreed to make public the amount of scholarship money sent to every college under the scheme so students know their entitlement.
	Kupwara encounter Slain Jaish militant was strategic planner for outfit Majid Jahangir/TNS Srinagar, July 24 On late Monday when the J&K Police got a tip-off that a militant commander was hiding in a residential house in Sivar Gadbadh, Lolab, Kupwara, they suspected that either Qari Yasir of Jaish-e-Mohmmand (JeM) or Hamza of Lashkar-e-Toiba was hiding in the village. The J&K Police immediately shared the intelligence input with the Army and a joint operation was launched to nab the militant, who was killed in a brief gun battle on Tuesday. It took some time to establish that the killed person was Qari Yasir, the operational commander of JeM. He was categorized as A++ and was among “the most wanted” militants of Kashmir. After the identity of the militant was confirmed, Chinar Corps Commander Lt Gen Gurmit Singh and Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, Abdul Ghani Mir rushed to the frontier district. The security forces till last year had little information about Qari Yasir, 32, a resident of Swat in Pakistan, as he had been lying low. He had infiltrated into the Valley in 2006. Qari had an excellent network of over ground workers (OGWs). He would not make much movement but was tech-savvy and was handling the entire infiltration of militants from Bandipore and Kupwara districts,” said a senior police officer. The IGP has termed Qari a strategic planner. “Qari was basically a strategic planner and that was very important fact about him. His killing is a big achievement for the security forces,” Mir told reports in Kupwara on Tuesday. The Army said Qari was being directly controlled by operatives in Pakistan and security men had been tracking him since the first week of July. He infiltrated into Kashmir in 2006 and had been operating as a reception commander for various militant groups. The Corps Commander praised the way the operation was jointly conducted by the security forces.
	Cleric’s 2 kids murdered, wife critically injured Azhar Qadri Tribune News Service Srinagar, July 24 Two children of a prayer leader at a mosque in Bemina on the outskirts of the city have been gruesomely killed and his wife critically wounded in a residential annexe in the mosque compound. Three-year-old Aaliya Iftikhar and two-year-old Mohammad Hashim were found this morning with their throats slit in the single-room annexe. Their mother Naseema, 40, was also found critically wounded and has been admitted in a hospital, where she is being treated. Prayer leader Mohammad Iftikhar Lone, who was the first to reach the crime scene, raised an alarm and called nearby residents upon seeing his two children and wife lying in a pool of blood in the annexe. Lone, who belongs to the Gurez area of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, said he was sleeping inside the mosque after the prayers in the morning, when the incident took place. Neighbours rushed the victims to a city hospital, where the children were declared brought dead. “The woman has been admitted for treatment. However, she is not able to record her statement,” a police spokesman said. The police has registered a case under Section 302 (murder) of the RPC at Batamaloo police station and launched an investigation. “We have questioned a few people of the area, including the father of the children. So far no one has been detained,” a police officer said. The bodies of the two children have been shifted to a hospital where their post-mortem will be conducted. A team of forensic specialists has inspected the scene of crime, the police spokesman said.
	Flash floods damage fencing along border Jammu, July 24 Flash floods triggered by heavy rains today damaged fencing on some stretches along the Indo-Pak border in the Samba and RS Pura sectors of the Jammu region. “Though no major damage has been reported, the fence suffered minor damages near the Basantar river in the Samba sector, Tarnah river (between Samba and Kathua) in the Samba sector, Aik Nullah, Nikki Tawi and Badi Tawi (in RS Pura sector),” said a BSF officer. He said some ambush points in the low-lying areas near the international border in the Samba and RS Pura sectors were also inundated by the rain today. “The repair work on the damaged stretches is on a war-footing,” he said.
	BJP to rope in Shia leaders to fight Kargil council poll Dinesh Manhotra /TNS Jammu, July 24 To test the waters in the mountainous region of Ladakh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to fight the forthcoming elections to the Shia-dominated Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council-Kargil (LAHDC-K), polling for which is slated to be held on August 22. Process for the elections has already started and the BJP has deputed its senior leader Nirmal Singh to rope in some prominent Shia leaders of Kargil so as to field them in the electoral battle. Keeping in view the demography of the region, the BJP has given the responsibility to its national vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi to explore all possibilities in Kargil because he (Naqvi) himself is a Shia. “We have already starting deliberations with prominent Shia leaders so as to provide an alternative to the people of Kargil,” Nirmal Singh, who is camping at Kargil, told The Tribune over phone. He said out of the total 26 seats of councillors in the LAHDC-K, the BJP had decided to field its candidates on 23 seats and would support three Independent candidates. The LAHDC-K was constituted in July 2003. The council has 30 councillors out of which 26 are elected while the remaining four are nominated. Singh said Naqvi would supervise the elections at Kargil and other senior leaders would also visit the region to seriously fight the poll. He said residents of Kargil had been giving encouraging response to the BJP. “We will emerge as kingmaker after the elections,” he said and added that other senior leaders, including state BJP in-charge Avinash Rai Khanna, would be visiting the area very soon to devise strategy for the elections. The BJP has reasons to test the waters in Kargil because the party has been working in the region to create a space for itself. In August last year, Naqvi along with BJP Minority Morcha national chairman Ali Mohammad Rizvi had participated in a training camp of party workers of Kargil. During the camp, the BJP leaders tried to “remove misconception” created by some vested interests about the party. The BJP is also highlighting atrocities on “deprived and subjugated” residents of Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan on different platforms at the national level so as to make inroads into Kargil because residents of Kargil have ethnic, cultural and religious similarities with residents of Gilgit-Baltistan. Before partition, Gilgit-Baltistan was part of the Greater Ladakh so there are a number of divided families in Kargil who have their relations across the Line of Control.
	State mulls creation of new administrative units Deputy Chief Minister to head panel set up to examine modalities Tribune News Service Srinagar, July 24 The state government today constituted a Cabinet Sub-Committee to examine modalities for the implementation of the Mushtaq Ganai Committee report regarding the creation of new administrative units in the state. The Committee will be headed by Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand. This was decided at a Cabinet meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah at the civil secretariat here. It decided that the Cabinet Sub-Committee would also take on board any fresh demands in this direction. Other members of the Committee include the Minister for Urban Development and Urban Local Bodies, Minister for Public Health Engineering, Irrigation and Flood Control, Minister for Agricultural Production, Minister for Higher Education, Minister for Planning and Development, Labour and Employment and Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs. The matter was earlier scheduled to be taken up at a Cabinet meeting last week, but was postponed in the wake of the Ramban incident, in which four civilians were killed and 42 others injured in alleged BSF firing. The Mushtaq Ganai Committee, headed by former Revenue Secretary Mushtaq Ahmad Ganai, submitted its report to the government earlier this year. It was constituted in 2011. It has recommended the creation of 23 subdivisions, 60 tehsils, 72 niabats, 60 CD blocks and about 700 patwar halqas, involving the financial implications of Rs 800 crore. Eight new districts and several other subordinate administrative units were created in 2007 during the tenure of former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. Among other decisions, the Cabinet approved the appointment of patwaris against the available vacancies, out of the candidates selected through a written examination for undergoing patwar training. It was also decided that the patwar trainees who do not qualify the revenue training in the first attempt shall be given a second chance to qualify and upon doing so shall be appointed as patwaris. The Cabinet also accorded sanction to the promulgation of the Jammu and Kashmir Para-Medical Council Ordinance 2013 regarding the training institute of paramedics, an official spokesman said. The Cabinet also approved placement of in charge Superintending Engineers (Electric) as in charge Chief Engineers (Electric) in the Power Development Department. They include Girja Koul, Manmohan Singh, Ravi Kumar Chanyal, Khurshid Ahmed Budoo, BA Khan and Subash Chander. COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS * The Mushtaq Ganai Committee, constituted in 2011 and headed by former Revenue Secretary Mushtaq Ahmad Ganai, submitted its report to the government earlier this year * It has recommended the creation of 23 subdivisions, 60 tehsils, 72 niabats, 60 CD blocks and about 700 patwar halqas, involving financial implications of Rs 800 crore
	Medicos making it to civil services Arteev Sharma Tribune News Service Jammu, July 24 In Jammu and Kashmir, where the health sector continues to gasp for breath, medicos are frequently making it to the Indian and the state civil services, with a resolve “to bring a significant change in the ailing administrative set-up”. After Shah Faesal, a Kashmir-based doctor, who topped the All India Civil Services examination in 2010, and Syed Sehrish Asgar, a doctor who topped the state civil services examination in 2011 and made it to Indian Civil Services last year, Neha Sharma, a Jammu-based dentist, topped the Kashmir Administrative Services (KAS) exam this year, the result of which was declared by the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission (JKPSC) yesterday. Neha is the second woman to top the exam. She said there was a “need to improve the administrative system at the grass-roots level” and it was the “driving force” behind her success. “Shah Faesal and Sehrish Asgar were the inspiration for me. I completed my BDS from Government Dental College, Jammu, in 2011. I started preparing for the state civil services during my internship as there were limited opportunities,” Neha told The Tribune in an interview. The KAS topper said every year around 200 students complete BDS but there are only 12 postgraduate seats, that too, in Kashmir. “Keeping in view the limited opportunities and the desire to bring some changes in the existing set up, I realised that if I made it to the civil services, I can cure the ills plaguing the administrative set up, which wasn’t possible as a dentist. I decided to crack the civil services examination and I am happy that I have accomplished my aim,” she said. Neha, who got married to an agriculture officer in 2011, said she would now prepare for the All India Civil Services so that she can contribute at the higher levels. “My parents, husband and in-laws have always encouraged me to achieve my goals. I have decided to prepare for the Indian Civil Services where you can get a bigger platform for policy formulation,” she said. There are around 3,000 health institutions (1,859 in Kashmir and 1,142 in Jammu division). The Health Department has been facing a shortage of around 1,300 doctors and 3,330 paramedics, including nurses. In the Jammu region alone, 734 posts of doctors, including nine senior consultants, 210 consultants, 462 medical officers and 53 dental surgeons are laying vacant. Neha also expressed concern over the declining sex ratio in the state and laid emphasis on women empowerment and curbing female foeticide. A total of 14,309 candidates took the preliminary examination for the state civil services, held in August 2012. A total of 226 candidates appeared in the interview. Out of the total 65 candidates who qualified the interview, 14 are women candidates.
	Search operation on in Uri sector Tribune News Service Srinagar, July 24 The Army continues to carry out a search operation in north Kashmir’s Uri sector after foiling an infiltration attempt during the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday. The movement of suspected militants was noticed around 10.30 pm on July 22 along the Line of Control in the Lachipora area of the Uri sector. The Army had opened fire to ensure that the militants did not sneak into the Valley. “As the militant group crossed over the LoC, the troops engaged the infiltrating column, forcing them to return to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Ammunition was recovered from the area,” an Army officer said, adding that it was suspected three militants were injured in the firing and they returned to PoK. “The intercepts suggest that those who were injured have died,” the Army officer said. The search operation is still in progress and strict vigil is being maintained on the LoC. Local residents in the border area said the exchange of fire was continuing in the sector.
	Drinking water supply discussed Tribune News Service Srinagar, July 24 Minister for Public Health Engineering, Irrigation and Flood Control Sham Lal Sharma called on Governor NN Vohra here today. The Governor and the minister discussed measures being taken for augmenting the drinking water supply and irrigation facilities in various parts of the state to effectively meet the existing and emerging requirements. The utilisation of the available resources under various Central schemes was also reviewed. The Governor also discussed with Sharma the water supply problems in Katra town and the entire shrine area.
	NC, Cong leaders in war of words over Doda quake relief Tribune News Service Jammu, July 24 After National Conference leaders lambasted senior Congress leader Ghulam Mohammad Saroori for levelling “allegations” on the issue of the relief package for the earthquake victims of Doda and Kishtwar, the later launched a scathing attack on the Omar Abdullah-led government. Saroori alleged that the earthquake-affected belts were deliberately ignored to politically weaken Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. “The earthquake-affected belt of the erstwhile Doda district is considered a citadel of Ghulam Nabi Azad. It was proved in the Assembly elections in 2002 and 2008. So the National Conference leadership wants to settle political scores with Azad by denying relief to the people,” Saroori told The Tribune. “Fearing that Ghulam Nabi Azad would dominate the entire state in the next Assembly elections, the National Conference leadership has hatched a conspiracy to weaken him (Azad) in his stronghold,” alleged Saroori, who is Inderwal MLA. He said Congress workers of the erstwhile Doda district comprising three districts Doda, Ramban and Kishtwar would bring the matter to the notice of the party leadership, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi. “As long as the National Conference is at the helm of affairs, there is no chance that the earthquake-affected families would get adequate relief. A Central team should be deputed to the region to assess the losses,” he said. He demanded that relief should be directly sent from the Centre to the district administration of Ramban, Kishtwar and Doda. Saroori, who is a staunch Azad supporter, said Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had promised to give free ration to the affected families but that had also remained on paper. To authenticate his allegation, Saroori gave the example of Tatanee village, which was badly affected by the earthquake but the people of the village have not been given any ration so far. Addressing a press conference, Saroori alleged that the National Conference government was misleading the Centre and kept the Union Government in the dark by giving wrong statements regarding the package. Saroori said the National Conference leaders reached out to the earthquake victims after two weeks.
	Valley has at least 8 JeM militants Azhar Qadri Tribune News Service Srinagar, July 24 Two of the three last surviving "commanders" of Jaish-e-Mohammad, the group which attacked Parliament in 2001, have been killed this year, leaving the outfit with a reported total cadre capacity of eight militants in Kashmir. Qari Yasir, the "chief operational commander" of the outfit in the Kashmir valley, was killed on Tuesday morning at a village in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district. A police officer said Yasir, resident of Swat valley of Pakistan, had been wounded and had come down to the village for treatment. Yasir had succeeded Qari Hamaad, alias Sajad Afghani, in 2011 when the latter was killed along with his bodyguard on the Foreshore Road in the city here. He had infiltrated into Kashmir in 2006. The number of militants of the group is now believed to be eight, including three local and five Pakistani militants, said police sources. The group’s reported surviving "commander" in Kashmir, a Pakistani national, operates from hideouts in the jungles of Kupwara. Jaish-e-Mohammad was formed in January 2000 by Maulana Masood Azhar, days after he, along with two others, were released in Kandahar in exchange for release of passengers aboard the hijacked Indian Airlines plane IC-814. Azhar was a former Harkat-ul-Ansar "commander" who had spent six years in Indian jails before his release in December 1999. Adnan Rasheed, the militant commander who recently wrote an open letter to Pakistani teen activist Malala Yousafzai and had earlier been sentenced to death for attempting to assassinate Pakistan dictator Parvez Musharraf, was formerly associated with Jaish-e-Mohammad. Rasheed, once an officer with Pakistan Air Force, is now with the Taliban. Maulana Asmatullah Moavia, a "former" Jaish-e-Mohammad militant, is now chief of Tehreek-e-Taliban Punjab, which is reportedly affiliated to Al-Qaida. In the aftermath of 9/11, Jaish-e-Mohammad split into two factions - Masood Azhar’s Khuddam-ul-Islam and Haji Abdul Jabbar’s Jama’at-e-Furqan.
	CRPF IG briefs Governor on security Tribune News Service Srinagar, July 24 Inspector General (Operations), CRPF, Kashmir, Nalin Prabhat called on Governor NN Vohra here today. The CRPF Inspector General (IG) briefed the Governor about the overall law and order situation in the Kashmir valley. He also briefed the Governor about various issues relating to the role being discharged by his force within the area of his responsibility, in coordination with the state police, particularly with regard to the Amarnath yatra. This was Prabhat’s first meeting with the Governor after taking over as the IG (Operations), CRPF, Kashmir, recently.
	Centrally sponsored schemes fail to attract teachers Non-payment of salaries major setback Bismah Malik/TNS Srinagar, July 24 The two flagship schemes being funded by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Rashtriya Madyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), aimed at enhancing access to elementary and secondary education are shooing away teachers in the state. The reason for this is that teachers who are posted under the two schemes at various government schools of the state have not been paid their salaries for almost a year now. Official sources said funds worth Rs 132.31 crore, sanctioned by the state government in January 2013 for salaries of teachers, are yet to be released. The sources said teachers preferred not to be posted at schools, created or upgraded under the SSA and RMSA schemes, due to the non-payment of salaries. Recently, the Jammu and Kashmir Teachers' Forum took up the issue with Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand and the directorates of state SSA and RMSA. The authorities have promised the teachers that their salaries would be released by July 30. “We have been protesting the indiscrimination against teachers who are posted under the schemes. The salaries of SSA teachers were withheld from September 2012 and released recently. The RMSA teachers have not been paid their salaries since March this year,” said Nissar Ahmad, spokesperson for the J&K Teachers' Forum. The Srinagar district office of the state RMSA wing confirmed that the salaries of teachers were yet to be released. “The salaries will be paid to teachers as soon as we get the clearance from the directorate offices,” an official said. There are many hiccups in the implementation of the two schemes such as the ill-planning of the state directorate offices in preparing the annual funds allocation plan, which leads to delay in sanctioning of funds from the Centre. “The delay in payment of salaries often happens due to the communication gap between the state and the Centre. Withholding salaries for a year is an injustice to the teachers,” Nissar Ahmad said.