Jammu, September 18
Chairman of the School Fee Fixation Committee (SFFC), Chief Justice (retd) Bilal Nazki, has assured representatives of the Association of Parents to look into the matter and ensure checks and balances on the excessive fee being charged by the private schools. He said no capitation fee in the form of annual charges shall be allowed to be charged by any school in the state.

Sources said the representatives of the Association, led by its president, Raj Kumar Gupta and convener Raj Dev Singh met Chief Justice (retd) Bilal Nazki at the State Guest House and highlighted the issue of the parents about the alleged fee hike, illegal fee and profiteering by private schools in Jammu.

Bilal Nazki assured the parents that if they represent cases about unwarranted school fee to the committee, he will look into the matter and ensure checks and balances on the fee charged by the private schools besides strict action against private schools charging unapproved fee.

He reiterated that a notice had been circulated and notified whereby the parents were told not to deposit fee.

Chief Justice (Retd) stressed the parents to meet regularly with feedback. He informed that once the Committee office shifted to Jammu, the process of fixation of fee for all private schools would start in Jammu before the commencement of next academic session.

In a presentation submitted to the Chairman, the association members briefed the committee about commercialisation of educational institutions.

The association members claimed that the commercialisation of education was prohibited by the Supreme Court in 2004, but the state government was yet to take any concrete measures in this regard.

Association president briefed the chairman about the litigations against the private schools in the High Court wherein directions were given to all private schools to charge only monthly tuition-fee.

He also highlighted the issues of alleged highhandedness of the private schools, especially the CBSE-affiliated schools. He said these schools were not adhering to the norms of the state Education Department.

Association president alleged that most of the CBSE schools were not even recognised by the Department of School Education and that the officials were looting people in connivance with the authorities concerned.

checks & balances

Chairman of the School Fee Fixation Committee (SFFC), Chief Justice (retd) Bilal Nazki, has assured representatives of the Association of Parents to look into the matter and ensure checks and balances on the excessive fee being charged by the private schools. He said no capitation fee in the form of annual charges shall be allowed to be charged by any school in the state.

Jammu, September 18
The Punjab National Bank (PNB) has bagged the prestigious Lala Lajpat Rai Rajbhasha shield for its excellent performance in promoting the use of Hindi language in the bank for 2012-13.

Punjab National Bank officials receive the Lala Lajpat Rai Rajbhasha shield in New Delhi recently. A Tribune photo

The prizes were distributed by Executive Directors of the bank, Rakesh Sethi and SR Bansal at a function held at Central Staff College, Delhi.

Muhammad Lateef Mir, Deputy General Manager and Circle Head, Jammu and Kashmir Circle, received the award whereas Jagdish Lal Bangotra, senior manager, Rajbhasha received certificate. Apart from this, Ramesh Chander Bhatt of the J&K Circle got the first prize in the all-India Inter bank Hindi essay competition and the second prize in the picture story contest.

SR Sharma, Field General Manager, PNB, New Delhi, GS Chauhan, GM, and executives of the bank were present on the occasion.

Jammu, September 18
With the skyrocketing prices of vegetables, residents today held a protest against the economic policies of the Centre and demanded that state government should act tough against hoarders.

Residents protest against rising vegetable prices in Jammu on Wednesday. 
Tribune photo: Inderjeet Singh

"Hoarders and profiteers are having a field day as they are controlling the prices of essential commodities in the market, while the administration has failed to act against them," said Ashok Gupta, state president Shiv Sena (SS).

All vegetables have become costlier. The prices of brinjals, onions, cucumbers and tomatoes have also gone up.

Protesters alleged that the administration was forcing only the retailers and vendors to follow its price lists and not doing any thing against the wholesalers who determine the prices. The drive against profiteers was completely ineffective.

They said the government should take effective steps to control the prices as most of the vegetables were being produced around the villages surrounding the city. But due to lack of help from the government, farmers were forced to sell the vegetables to the mafia, which was controlling its supply in the city.

"The government is apathetic towards the basic problems facing people. Vegetable vendors and suppliers had a monopoly in the vegetable market and residents are being forced to buy green vegetables at high rates," said Rupesh Kumar, a private sector employee.

Several women who took part in the demonstration said often vegetables become expensive due to the climate, but now pulses, cooking oil and other items were also going out of the reach of the common man.

"The common man is unable to bear the burden of inflation and the economy seems to have stagnated. These are tough times for the common man," said Sarika Sharma, a housewife.

Jammu, September 18
To promote local artisans, the state government has decided to open more handicrafts showrooms in different parts of the country.

For the purpose, the government has constituted a high-powered committee for the final acquisition of appropriate premises for showrooms of the J&K Handicrafts Corporation in Delhi, Jaipur and Mumbai.

The five-member committee comprises the Principal Secretary, Planning and Development Department, Principal Secretary, Finance Department, Secretary, Industries and Commerce Department, Managing Director, J&K Handicrafts Corporation, Financial Advisor and Chief Accounts Officer (FA&CAO), Industries &Commerce Department and FA&CAO, J&K Handicrafts Corporation.

Batote, September 18
The strike of the sanitary workers entered the ninth day in Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts today. The stink emanating from piles of garbage and a dead dog crushed by a vehicle five days ago in Batote Bazaar compelled some of the shopkeepers to close their shops today.

“The nauseating stink of this decomposed dog lying on the road in front of my shop opposite the Post Office and the BSNL Exchange for the past six days has not only been irking our customers but also making it unbearable for us to sit in our shops. Five other shops near my shop have also been shut down,” said Shashipal Goswami, a shopkeeper.

Though the situation is posing inconvenience for these shopkeepers, they said they could empathise with the protesters.

“We realise that their demands are genuine and they have been wronged by their department and should be heard,” said Subhash, a shopkeeper.

“We will not end our strike till our all demands are met,” said Batote Safai Karamcharis Union vice-president Abdul Razak. He said he had been working regularly on the consolidated salary since July 1996 in the Municipal Committee (MC), Batote.

His two other colleagues were also simultaneously engaged and are among the 16 safai karamcharis who have not been paid their salaries since May. Their 13 other colleagues were engaged between 2005 and 2013 on the "Need Felt Basis".

Batote Executive Officer Tariq Mehmood Balwan said as he got the amount from the salary head accountant for regulars only, the temporary safai karamcharis were so far being paid their salaries from the internal resources, which has now been prohibited.

“It is a small place and we don’t have much resources of revenue and I can’t pay them from the work’s head," he said.

“As per the then SRO, nobody engaged on temporary or casual basis after 1994 can be regularised and for correcting one wrong, another wrong can’t be made. Hence, they can’t be regularised,” said Minister for Urban Local Bodies Nawang Rigzin Jora.

Rajouri, September 18
The Counter Insurgency Force (Romeo) organised a conference on "Joint Intelligence Security" at its headquarters in Rajouri. The participating officials reviewed the prevailing security situation in the area and chalked out a strategy to deal with important events scheduled in the coming months in the twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch.

The objective of the conference was to improve the synergy between the Army, civil administration and their Intelligence agencies.

The meeting was chaired by Romeo General Officer Commanding (GOC) I Narayana. The Poonch Additional District Development Commissioner, Rajouri Deputy Commissioner and the Rajouri-Poonch range Director Inspector General (DIG) were among others who attended the conference.

The GOC appreciated the "law-abiding" nature of the populace and encouraged the participants to overcome the contemporary challenges and work towards enhancing confidence among people. He emphasised the need to be responsive towards the developing situation to maintain peace.

The Rajouri Deputy Commissioner expressed gratitude to officials for improving the security environment and maintaining communal harmony. Rajouri and Poonch DIG Danish Rana briefed the gathering on the prevailing internal security situation and steps initiated for synergy and implementation of the "Joint Counter Agitation Strategy" for improvement of security.

Jammu, September 18
The Unemployed Ayurvedic, BAMS Doctors Association (UABDA) today held a demonstration and demanded government jobs for them. They alleged that the state had adopted a discriminatory policy towards hundreds of youth who had attained degree in the Indian System of Medicine (ISM).

The protest was led by UABDA chairman Dr Shrikant and president Dr Sahil Pandoh. They said the government was "playing with the career of youth" who had completed their courses from various professional courses in the state.

“The government has no employment policy for Ayurveda ISM doctors and the strength of unemployed BAMS doctors is growing day by day but there is no policy to absorb them in government jobs,” said Dr Shrikant.

He said Ayurveda doctors of the Jammu region were not being absorbed under the AYUSH scheme started by the Union Health Ministry.

He said various Centrally sponsored schemes were proving to be a failure due to the policies of the state government and corruption at various levels.

UABDA president Dr Sahil Pandoh demanded separate directorate for the Ayurveda ISM. He said the stipend honorarium should be given to all the doctors of the Indian School of Medicine till they get jobs and their services should be utilised in government hospitals and dispensaries. He threatened to intensify their agitation if their demands are not met.

The association has appealed to Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and the state Health Minister Shabir Khan to personally look into the matter and see how many doctors have been absorbed by the government.

Members of the association claimed that dispensaries were lying vacant in the absence of doctors and the patients were at the receiving end. They said Ayurveda doctors were frustrated as they were unemployed despite having degrees. They said ISM doctors were feeling "ignored" by the Omar Abdullah-led government.

Jammu, September 18
Nitan Sharma emerged as the fastest sprinter by clinching gold medal in the U-17 boys 100-m sprint race while Mukhtar Ali and Varun Sharma claimed silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the ongoing district-level inter-school athletic meet at Government Higher Secondary School, Samba.

In the 200-m U-17 age group, Sandeep Singh, Raman Singh Charak and Sunny Singh bagged gold, silver and bronze medal, respectively, while in the 400-m U-17 boys, Mohammad Tariq, Parveen Singh and Sajjad Ali clinched gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively.

In the U-17 high jump, Vijay Kumar, Rajan Gill and Gurdeep Singh bagged gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively, while in shot put event, Navjot bagged gold, Sahil Sharma fetched silver medal and Amit Changotra got bronze medal.

Meanwhile, events in 800-m, 1500-m, 3000-m, discus throw, javelin throw and broad jump were also held in the boys section.

In the 100-m U-17 girls, Sapna Devi clinched gold while Anmol Jamwal and Babli Bana bagged silver and bronze medals, respectively.

Events in 200-m, 400-m, 800-m, 3000-m, discus throw, javelin throw and broad jump were also held in girls section. 

Jammu, September 18
Dogra Degree College, Bari Brahmana, organised an industrial visit to the Chenab Textile Mills, Kathua, for students of the BBA and BCA courses. In order to make the theoretical study more contractual all students along with teaching facility visited the mills.

Students were given in depth knowledge about the working of the plants through presentations and were also escorted to the different processing units by the unit managers. It was a collective effort by the industry and the institution to facilitate the knowledge of the students. 

Jammu, September 18
National Mazdoor Conference (NMC) president Subash Shastri today urged the Chief Minister, Finance Minister, Chief Secretary and the Principal Secretary Finance to make early arrangements for clearing the dues of employees, daily-rated workers, pensioners and other sections of society.

Addressing a meeting of NMC activists at Gandhi Nagar, Shastri said it was surprising that payments to employees, pensioners and others were pending because of paucity of funds in the treasury.

The NMC leader said even the payment of bills of GP funds and the third instalment of the sixth pay commission arrears had not not been cleared so far even though the amount was the hard-earned money of the salaried class and pensioners. This situation, he said, spoke volumes about the apathy of the department concerned.

Shastri expressed hope that the Chief Minister, Finance Minister, Chief Secretary and the Principal Secretary Finance would "realise the difficulties of the salaried class/pensioners" and take immediate steps to redress their grievances.

He also expressed concern over the issue of pay anomalies of the clerical cadre of the state government and urged the government to look into the matter.

"The state government has already removed the pay anomalies of various cadres but the removal of pay anomalies of the clerical cadre has not been done so far," he said, adding that the state government should take an early decision in this regard.

Other demands of the NMC are setting up of the seventh pay commission, grant of 20 per cent interim relief, enhancement in the wages of daily wagers to Rs 10,000 per month besides their regularisation, issuance of regularisation order of 180 daily wagers working in the Rural Development Department, release of pending salary of motivators working in the IWDP, phase II, project Akhnoor and increase of medical allowance from Rs 300 to Rs 1,000 per month. Others who addressed the meeting were Rajan Babu Khajuria, Sham Lal Sharma, Anil Singh Slathia, Rakesh Padha, Surinder Kumar, Ram Lal, Ram Pal Sharma, Barkat Ram, Girdhari Lal Bhagat, Vijay Kumar Bhagat and Sukhdev Singh. 

Jammu, September 18
Rashtriya Rifles Battalion conducted a two-day inter-school students meet under Operation Sadhhavana in far- flung regions of Gulabgarh. During the meet, various events were held which included quiz, debate, painting, dancing and singing etc, wherein students drawn from around seven high and senior secondary schools of Mahore tehsil in Reasi district participated.

Such a meet was the first of its kind to be organised by the Rashtriya Rifles battalion.

All the principals and headmasters appreciated the efforts put in by the Army personnel. Speaking on the occasion, the Commanding Officer appreciated the efforts of young kids and encouraged them to do well in all spheres of education.

The event culminated with distribution of various medals, trophies and cash prizes to all the deserving candidates and various consolation prizes. 

Jammu, September 18
The president of the J&K College Teachers Association (JKCTA), Jammu, Dr Avinash Kumar Gupta, called on Minister for Higher Education Mohammad Akbar Lone.

The JKCTA president put forth the association's demand of parity in the superannuation age with university teachers of the state as per the guidelines of the University Grants Commission (UGC).

He also demanded retrospective placements of teachers in senior/selection scale by taking into consideration the UGC notification of completion of orientation/refresher courses up to December 31 this year.

Earlier, a delegation of college teachers led by Gupta met Minister of State for Higher Education and Finance and Planning Dr Manohar Lal Sharma and urged him to extend the benefit of SRO 222 to college teachers on the pattern of other state government employees. aThe demand of parity in the retirement age and other issues were also taken up with the minister. Dr Satesh Bhan, Prof RS Jamwal, Dr BK Gandhotra and Dr Neeraj were part of the delegation.