Another spell of snowfall likely in Kashmir

Kashmir Valley is expected to witness another spell of snowfall after Sunday afternoon owing to the western disturbances and the temperature may fall again.According to the Met department another system of western disturbances is building and it may start to effect from Sunday afternoon for nearly two days.“We have system building up, which is likely to cause light to moderate snowfall from January 22. Its effect will remain for January 23,” the director Meteorology, Sonum Lotus, told Jk news.

Kashmir has been witnessing harsh winter after a long time. The intermittent heavy snowfall has been affecting the normal life since January 7 while the temperature has also fallen unexpectedly to minus 7.8 degree Celsius after 16 years.

While the snow, snapping all road and air links, left the valley cut-off from the outside world, the people have been facing the worse due to shortage of essential supplies.According to Lotus, the day temperatures are likely to fall again in the coming days.“When the system starts taking effect, the day temperature may fall and the nights may also get colder,” he said.

Meanwhile, much to the relief of the people, the day temperature today was around 5.2 degree Celsius and the minimum temperature of the night was minus 3.5 degree Celsius.

“We are seeing pleasant sunshine after a long time. Even yesterday started with a moderate snowfall in the summer capital. Hope it stays like this for sometime now,” hoped middle Nasir Ahmad of Lal Chowk.With the halt in precipitation, people have begun to move around. The traffic movement on the roads has also improved.

The major relief has, however, come to the vendors who were not able to set stalls during snow.“I did no business for almost a week because it was impossible to move out in that heavy snow,” Shakir, a teenage vendor selling used warm clothes shared, “Now as the snow has stopped I have also started to move out. The snow gave me a tough time.”

The air links to the valley have also been restored completely.According to officials at the Srinagar international airport, flights have been operating on time.“With improvement in weather, the flight operations have normalised. Thousands of passengers fly from here everyday,” the officials said. 

Highway cleared but mismanaged

Mismanagement of traffic and BEACON authorities marred the smooth flow of vehicular traffic on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, today despite the fact that majority of stranded passengers were dispatched to their respective destinations.

Reports from Banihal said that mismanagement of traffic and BEACON authorities affected the flow of vehicular traffic on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway today. Our correspondent who trekked down from Verinag to Banihal reported that the highway was almost clear and there were no slippery conditions as the snow was completely removed from the road. Despite clearance of the highway, traffic was not allowed to move smoothly by both Traffic and BEACON authorities.

The traffic authorities haphazardly took decision to resume traffic from both ends of the highway which created mess on the highway. The authorities in the morning flashed a message that the vehicles which will cross Qazigund in the morning would be allowed to proceed towards Jammu. This created confusion among the vehicle operators and later the truckers who crossed Qazigund at 6 AM were also not allowed to move towards Jammu from Jawahar Tunnel, till noon.

The authorities, however, claimed that 1500 vehicles crossed the tunnel towards the valley and 1000 towards Jammu.

The administration claimed to have heaved a sigh a relief when the passengers, who had been stranded for the last few days due to closure of national highway after heavy snowfall, were being dispatched to their respective destinations.

The stranded passengers were sent early in the morning from 4 AM to 7:30 AM in around 200 private passenger vehicles, majority of them light vehicles.

The scenario which had turned quite chaotic over the last few days, particularly at General Bus Stand owing to stagnation of the passengers, was to a large extent normal today.

However, quite a few valley bound as well as enroute passengers were still at the Bus Stand. 

On contacting most of the passengers revealed, “Although the vehicles were available for us but we stayed back on our own due to one reason or the other.”

When contacted, SSP Traffic told Kashmir Times, “The pressure has been released as all the stranded passengers have been cleared. If there are some still remaining, they will be cleared tomorrow subject to weather conditions.”

Along with passengers, valley bound vehicles with essential commodities have also been cleared. 25-30 oil and gas tankers have been cleared in this respect.”

Budget session from Feb 23

The state cabinet, in its first meeting after the completion of three years of the coalition government in office, today approved summoning of state legislature for Budget session 2012-13 from February 23, 2012 and it also gave a go ahead to much awaited J&K State drug policy.

Consensus, however, eluded the cabinet, which met here today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, over the adoption of the parliamentary practice of recess of a week or two in between the budget session as was being anticipated. Sources stated that some of the ministers objected to the proposal stating this would set a wrong precedent. They were not fully convinced with the logic forwarded in support of the proposal.

“Finally the consensus evolved on holding the session from February 23. Though initially it was proposed to be held from February 16 with a recess of a week or two on parliamentary pattern yet in the absence of consensus, the schedule was pushed further by a week,” the sources added.

Yet another important item on the agenda of cabinet meeting was the J&K Drug Policy, which officially speaking, has been formulated with an avowed objective to universalize the quality health session across the state.

Following the cabinet meeting, Minister for Health Sham Lal Sharma explained the salient features of the policy and said that the policy would help in ensuring balanced growth of health sector in the state. It would also rationalize the use of drugs.

He said, “The drug policy envisages rationalizing number of drug licenses, only drugs listed in EDL shall be procured and the qualification of drugs would be done, taking into consideration the parameters of demand, lead time, transportation and emergency needs. An appropriate inventory control system to prevent excessive stocking of items and also present stock outlets has been devised in the drug policy which takes care of proper recall and disposal procedures followed as per standard guidelines.”

He said that the features of drug policy included selection of essential drug list by expert committee to be known as State Drug Committee.

The Committee will comprise clinicians, micro-biologists, qualified pharmacists and independent experts besides senior functionaries of the departments. He said for Indian System of Medicines (ISM) there would be a separate committee.

Health minister said that the policy was formulated under the directions of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah who was keen to upgrade the health care status of Jammu and Kashmir and universalize the quality health session across the state.

The Health Minister said that the policy also envisages strengthening of Drug and Food Control Organization and Drug Testing Laboratories. “It also provides for promoting rational use of drugs in the state so that patients receive the medicines appropriately. It provides for drugs and therapeutic committees in all the hospitals,” Sham said. He said the concept of essential drugs, rational drug use and generic prescribing would be integral part of basic and in-service training of health professionals under the policy.

He said Drug Information Centre would be established in the state to provide appropriate drug information.

Among other items on agenda, the cabinet also approved of 6627 hectares of forest land as Tata Kuti wildlife sanctuary in Poonch in lieu of proposed de-notification of Trikuta wildlife sanctuary (3140 hectares).

The transfer of land in favour of Social Welfare Department for SOS Children’s village situated at Tullamulla tehsil and district Ganderbal was also given a go ahead besides giving an approval to the creation of employees and pensioners Data Base-Centralized Personal Information System (CPIS) in J&K state.

The proposal to create posts of various categories in the NCC organization, re-employment of Abdul Hakeem, Deputy Director, District Motor Garages, Leh for a period of one year w.e.f. January 1, 2012 too were cleared by the cabinet.

Besides, the cabinet also approved transfer and posting of Mushtaq Ahmed Mir, Additional Commissioner (Administration) Commercial Taxes, Kashmir as Director, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department, Kashmir against available vacancy.

State of Health Care in JandK State

That the health services in JK state are in far from desirable state is known to all and sundry. It is not that no attention has been paid to it; in fact much has been done to improve health services for over six decades. In addition to building health care institutions right up from rural health dispensaries to tertiary care centers, due attention has been paid to develop human resources to man these health services. Human resources development was initiated in 1959 with the opening of Government Medical College Srinagar (GMC) in Srinagar at the site of present Lad Ded hospital for women, which is now an associated hospital of GMC. Subsequently GMC Jammu was commissioned and later Sher Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) was developed as a public/private joint enterprise with a governing body. Jhelum Valley College (JVC) in Srinagar started as a private initiative, subsequently it got linked to SKIMS for training Medical graduates, while as SKIMS became a Post graduate institute.

The core activity for developing human resources kept pace with the times, however the effort to retain the products of these institutions in the state was lacking. While as he urban centers of the state, Srinagar and Jammu mainly had a surfeit of doctors, the same is not true of rural areas. Majority of doctors avoid rural postings due to poor facilities. All efforts to appeal to their moral sense, compulsory service initiatives have been tried without producing the desired results. This has resulted in uneven utilization of available human resources, due to variety of reasons, all of which may not be ascribed as failure of official initiative, though the government needs to do more than it has done so far to improve living conditions for doctors, including suitable residential premesis.

The latest news reports on the state of health of our health institutions make a dismal reading. There is only one doctor for at least 2142 patients and a single bed to accommodate more than 1063 patients. Here again the infrastructure requirements in the state health department have not been able to keep pace with the population growth, which denotes failure of planning. The demographic data forms an essential element of planning any sector of economy, more so the core sectors of health and education, which affect all & sundry. As per the statistics of the health department, the average population covered per health institution (including both private and government) across the state is 3678, while bed strength per lakh population was calculated at 94. Similarly, population per doctor has been worked out at 2141 persons. As per the economic survey by the Directorate of Economics and Statistic, the number of doctors in 1950-51 was 184, which increased up to 2129 in 1980-81 and 5847 in 2008-09. While in 1980-81, around 37 doctors were available per lakh population, in 2008-09 the number reached to 47 medicos per lakh population. Though the figures quoted are a year or two old, not much has changed. This clearly indicates that all parameters required for meaningful planning have not been taken into consideration, mainly the demographic factor. Brain drain could be constituted as a cause, but it does not provide a total perspective of the problem. 47 medicos per lakh population in 2008-09 compared to 37 doctors were available per lakh population in 1980-81 makes a poor reading.

A study of health card of state hospitals makes a very poor reading, especially of hospitals associated with Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar and Jammu. These associated hospitals play a pivotal role in the health related activity of the state. It has often been seen that cases, which pose problems of diagnosis and are liable to develop complications get referred to these hospitals, even though it is often possible to provide care in district or even sub-district hospitals, for variety of reasons. The doctors in district centers do not want to take the flak, in case complications develop, although their line of treatment might be the same as in associated hospitals. The doctors might not be liable to blame wholly, as generally the people because of poor education in health related matters do not accept the complications associated with health care. In case these complications do develop, the first question that gets asked is ‘why was the patient not referred’? It has been seen that in the ensuing argument, the doctors get physically assaulted, before better senses prevail. Contrary to the routine here, in advanced states, the aggrieved party tends to seek legal remedy. The case gets referred to the medical board, which fixes the blame, in case medical negligence is proved or as happens in most of the cases, no basis is found for the complaint. This is a civilized way of treating matters, rather than the stormy encounters with those, who provide health care.  

The stress that associated hospital and apical care centers, called the tertiary care centers like SKIMS are subjected to is hardly appreciated and no visible effort is made to meet health objectives, at various levels of care. The health planners have set parameters for ‘Primary Health centers’ [PHC] ‘Districts & Sub-district centers’ and then higher and tertiary care centers, though there may be no strict compartmentalization of cases or which case should get treated where. However, PHC’s and ‘Districts & Sub-district centers’ taking the desired work load, without seeking the easier option of referring cases at random, needs to be ensured. Many cases report to higher centers of health care, without a referral and there is no mechanism to stop the inflow of such cases. The mechanism of ensuring the stoppage of such an inflow and also restriction of needless referrals could be worked out in seminars, by engaging the best minds in the field of medicine, persons who have wealth of experience of health care in J&K state in the state and the health planners. The society at large needs to be involved, the civil society grouping, in order to educate the population groups on different levels of treatment. Information can disseminated by establish health channels in on DD hook-ups. In England, where ‘National Health Scheme’ is in operation, it is impossible to seek specialist care in sate sector, without a referral from the ‘General Practitioner’ [GP] though a person may chose the option of private health care, which is highly expensive. The option is limited to families that fall in the higher income groups.

Having taken stock of the stresses that associated hospitals are subjected to, it is indeed a matter of regret that over a long period of time associated hospitals attached to GMC Srinagar had teachers of GMC take-up the task of administering these hospitals. GMC is already short of teachers and subjecting the teachers to additional strains is hardly a sane option. Besides GMC teachers have hardly ever administered hospitals, hence they lack experience. Their experience is subject specific, concerns the subjects, they teach. To say that administrators are not available would be denying a fact. There is a whole lot of senior doctors waiting for promotion, however the exercise needs input from higher echelons of health services and might involve a joint exercise of ‘Ministry of Medical Education’ and ‘Ministry of Health’. That exercise unfortunately is not being undertaken, leading to difficulties in ensuring proper administration of the associated hospital and also to spare the medical academicians for the activity, they are supposed to indulge in! That is to provide our future doctors with the best of the training; they may be capable of providing! With their teachers having the additional job of administering hospitals, it may not be possible to spare time and effort to train students.

Lack of proper attention to private sector growth can be gauged from the fact that 91% of state’s population compared to 47% at national level depends on public sector health care, which makes a strong case for private sector encouragement in the health sector, on the same level as witnessed in the educational sector. And this needs to be taken as a priority. There are several reasons why private sector growth is lacking. There are severe restrictions placed on constructing hospitals in residential areas. However, while the master plan implies that private hospitals may not come in residential areas, it allows polyclinics, and even health care centers that do not treat cases with in factious diseases. Hence contradictions abound. There is no meaningful effort to re-visit the master plan and get over these contradictions. It is precisely in residential areas that health care facilities are needed. Of course ailments like tuberculosis, leprosy need isolated centers. It is indeed a mockery that while scores of public health care facilities are located in thickly populated areas, private sector is denied access. SMHS in Srinagar, SMGS in Jammu, and SKIMS in Srinagar are located in thickly populated areas.  Even Chest diseases hospital treating cases of tuberculosis is located in a thickly populated area in Srinagar. This makes master plan restriction, an argument unsustainable.

The government harps day in and day out on the need to develop private health care centers. There is no lack of investors. Expatriates…NRI’s have come with money and viable projects, only to find that there are no takers. The government needs to take a hard look at the problems involved, the contradictions in master plan and provide room for those willing to invest. Only harping endlessly that state needs private investment in health sector is not enough, without clearing roadblocks in private health sector growth.

Snow paralyses system in kashmir

Four inches of snow have buried the administration…” A day after the first snowfall in Kashmir Valley, it seems the most favourite line of every Kashmiri helplessly braving the bone-chilling weather without electricity and drinking water.
The Valley has been without electricity for two complete days now even as many areas are under acute shortage of the drinking water, exposing the state government’s tall claims
of its preparedness for the winter.
Against the requirement of around
1100 MW electricity, all Kashmir is
getting at present is around 150 MW
from gas turbine, Uri-I and Lower
Jhelum Hydel projects. Of this, as
claimed by government, 25 MW are
supplied to hospitals and the rest
about 120 MW are provided on rotation—
one hour in 24 hours—to
residential areas.
“The government has failed miserably
to manage the crisis. The
snowfall is most expected thing in
winter, yet the government failed to
maintain the power supply in comparatively
less snow. It is disappointing,”
Mushtaq Ahmad Mir of old city,
an enraged common man, said while
talking to Kashmir Times.
“Just a few days ago the chief minister
(Omar Abdullah) claimed that
they have started the gas turbine
that generates 100 MW of electricity,
but today in crisis they say three
projects (including gas turbine) are
generating only around 70 MW. It
shows the government is befooling
us. How are we supposed to survive
in this chill?” he asked.
The authorities claim that the snow
has damaged Kishanpora-Wagoora
and Kishanpora-Pampore transmission
lines, causing halt in the power
supply from the northern grid.
However, without electricity the
public, especially the ailing and the
elderly, has to face acute inconveniences.
“Darkness is more or less manageable,
but we have no means to warm
the water for bathing etc… It is life
threatening situation for the elderly
and the children? But no one seems
bothered,” Mohammad Iqbal Wani
of Rambagh said.
Coincidently, the valley observed
complete shutdown, against power
shortage, on the very day snowfall
occurred. The strike was called by
the Kashmir Economic Alliance
(KEA), amalgam of trade associations,
following the killing of a youth
at Boniyar Uri in CISF firing on
protests-against-electricity-shortage.
While calling for the strike, the
KEA pointed out the surplus power
supply maintained with the same
infrastructure during the tenure of
Mufti Muhammad Syed.
The public seems sharing the
similar views.
“During the time of Mufti Sayeed
we had almost 17 feet snow at many
places closer to the Tunnel, yet he
provided us uninterrupted power
supply. If he could manage it, why
is this government NC-Congress Coalition) helpless?” asked Ghulam Muhammad, a senior citizen from Lal Bazar.
The enraged consumers took to roads at many places.
People came out at Drangbal and Namlebal Pampore people to protest the power shortage. The reports said they also attacked with Kangris a VIP vehicle passing through the area.
The residents of Sumbal Bandipora gathered at protested at press enclave here.
The government, however, is still unsure about the total restoration.
“The repair work is on and we are hopeful that the work Kishanpora-Pampore transmission line will be done by evening. We are hopeful that the power will be partially restored this evening,” head disaster management, Amir Ali, said.
Water shortage worsens situation
Besides electricity, most areas in the Valley have been without proper supply of the drinking water. On the makeshift basis, the most areas are getting drinking water for four hours in the morning and two hours in the evening.
Most old city areas like Nowpora, Khanyar and Habba kadal, and several civil lines areas including city centre Lal Chowk have been without drinking water since last evening.
The reports coming in from many areas in North and South Kashmir said the water supply has been affected for nearly two days.
The shortage of drinking water is forcing the public to utilize the unhygienic water resources.
“We are without water since last morning. We are forced to collect the water from the nearby public tap or the stream,” Mudasir of Kupwara said. The authorities said the halt was due to power shortage.
“We are facing problems at Dood ganga project due to power shortage, so the inconvenience will remain till electricity is restored fully,” Amir, who is also the office on special duty, said.
Highway closed
The Jammu-Srinagar highway was closed for traffic till last reports came due to 550 Feet avalanche at Ramban. The road link is likely to be restored tomorrow.
However, all flights and trains operated on time except the first flight of the morning that faced a delay.

J&K utilizes Rs 499-cr under NRHM

Under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), to provide effective healthcare to rural population, scheme Jammu and Kashmir has utilized Rs 499.70 crores at the end of November 2011.
According to the Mission Director, NRHM, J&K, Dr. Yashpal Sharma, against the availability of Rs 666.23 crores including the state share of Rs 73.62 crores, Rs 499.70 crores, which means 75 per cent stands utilized at
the end of November.
While, Rs 267 crores provided under NRHM for construction/ upgradation of District Hospitals, CHCs (Community Health Centre), PHCs (Primary Health Centers) and sub-centres under NRHM till date against which Rs 210 crores have been spent.
Additionally, Rs 66.70 crore additional funds provided for construction/ upgradation of District Hospitals, CHCs, PHCs and subcentres under NRHM during the current year.
CHC Katra, PHC Mishriwala and Doctors/paramedics Quarters at Akhnoor completed with support of funding from NRHM during this year.
“50 basic life support ambulances procured to strengthen referral/ emergency transport. These life support ambulances are being placed on National highway after every 30 Kms.
4121 additional doctors/ paramedics engaged under NRHM, 36 specialists, 687 MBBS/ISM doctors and 3398 paramedics. 1745 2nd ANMs (Auxiliary Nurse Midwife) provided in sub centres till date,” Mission Director mentions.
Every medical aid centre has been provided one male multipurpose health worker. 346 MMPHWs have been approved. The remuneration of doctors/ paramedics engaged under NRHM has been enhanced by 20 per cent raising the salary of doctors from Rs 16000 to Rs 19200 and of paramedics from Rs
9000 to Rs 10800. Similarly, the remuneration of the staff engaged in theprogramme Management Units at different levels state/district and block has been enhanced by 20 per cent.
According to the NRHM officials the health services are being provided free or at a very low / negligible user charges and more than 90 per cent IPD patients are treated in government institutions.
“Efforts have been made to make the functioning of health institutions 24x7. In the first instance, 157 PHCs have been strengthened as 24x7 PHCs. Similarly, 67 CHCs have been strengthened to the level of first referral units,” Mission Director believes.

Interlocutors report on Kashmir to be made public in January

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram today said the government is open to dialogue with separatists in Jammu and Kashmir and once the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) is thoroughly briefed on the report of the J&K interlocutors, it will be made public and that is most probably in early January.

"The CCS has been briefed on the report only once. Once it has been briefed thoroughly, the report would be made public. We are open to dialogue with separatists. If they are ready for talks, so are we. The channels of talks are still open, " Mr Chidambaram told at a news conference called to present a monthly report of his Ministry.

The interlocutors submitted their report to Mr Chidambaram in October this year.The report was called for review of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and gradual withdrawal of Disturbed Areas Act from certain parts of the Kashmir valley.The report, however, stayed away from the contentious issues of ‘azadi’ and autonomy, saying the clock cannot be turned back in the Valley.The panel comprised senior journalist Dileep Padgaonkar, academician Radha Kumar and Information Commissioner M M Ansari.The trio were appointed on October 13 last year, when the Kashmir situation had turned grim following street protests and the killing of more than 100 youths. 

Peace in Kashmir is New Year eve hotspot for tourists

With unrests out of the way at least for the time being, Kashmir seems tourists’ new preferred destination for New Year eve celebrations.With the New Year eve-December 31-just round the corner, the tourists are flying in “exceptional numbers” only to welcome 2012 from the snow clad and chilly highlands and mountains. The occupancy in hotels and guest houses is already on a high, and counting.

“We are having an exceptional rush this winter. All flights arriving here today were fully percent booked with tourists and we have the same for tomorrow and Saturday,” the president tour agents association of Kashmir, Rauf Tramboo, told News Agency.The visitors include the ‘high end’ tourists specially flying in for the weekend.“Since this New Year falls on a weekend, we have high end tourists coming in just to be here on the New Year eve. They may stay for a couple of days,” Tramboo added.As per the estimates the hotels and guest houses are up to 60 percent occupied, but the highest rush is seen at snow clad Gulmarg and Pahalgam. The recent snowfall and cold weather is proving the added attraction.

“The hotels at Gulmarg and Pahalgam are almost full because tourists want to enjoy the snow. We have good rush in Srinagar hotels also,” the president Kashmir Hotel and Restaurant Owners Federation (KHAROF), Faiz Ahmad Bakhshi, said.Kashmir has witnessed a relatively calm year after unrest consumed, almost completely, last three tourism seasons. The 2008, 2009 and 2010 all saw a good beginning to the tourist season, but later it turned ugly with unrest. As against 7.38 lakh tourists who visited Kashmir last year despite the unrest, the number this year has been an unprecedented 11 Lakh.However, it is after 1988 that Kashmir is witnessing rush.

“In comparison to previous years this has been the best in terms of the tourist inflow. It is after start of militancy that we are witnessing such rush,” Faiz said.While the typical New Year parties are avoided, the state tourism department and hoteliers have small time events lined up just to attract the tourists.And, for the winter tourists the tourism department has also has planned various adventurous events to woo both foreign and domestic tourists.“These will include normal skiing, ice skating, heli-skiing and snow carnivals to attract tourists,” a senior officials in the department said.

Maharaja Hari Singhs treasure missing

Maharaja Hari Singh’s mammoth legacy including a treasure worth Rs 100,000 crores have reportedly gone missing according to the information sought under Right to Information Act by Bashir Assad, an activist.
Maharaja’s valuable treasures which nobody claims to have possession of includes diamonds, rubies, crowns, bangles, robes and watches. Transiting between the Jammu and Srinagar Toshkhanas (treasuries), after Maharaja Hari Singh left Kashmir in 1947, the riches have mysteriously disappeared or are hey still lying with the government?

Interestingly, the Treasury officials are clueless of where is the priceless treasure? “We do not know of any such treasure. You should probably ask the state government,” a Jammu and Kashmir Toshkhana official wishing anonymity said.

Reportedly, the government had made a list of all the items which included necklaces, diamonds , rubies, emeralds etc in 1983 when the Maharaja appointed treasury officer Iqbal Nath was away from Kashmir.
At that time, a French expert Sotheby Reyner was brought in to evaluate the jewels whose cost was summed up at Rs 500 crores back then.
The most expensive item was found to be a diamond necklace which was worth Rs 1.02 lakh back then. The treasure had apparently hundreds of uncut diamonds and pearls. In 1947 some eight trucks of the Maharaja’s jewel possessions were left behind in Jammu Toshkhana which was later shifted to Srinagar in 1951. Some retired officials even say that a part of the treasure was utilised for financial stability by the government of India after Indo-China War of 1962. The official records of the presence of these jewels in the government treasuries have been maintained till 1983 but after that there is no clue of the same.

Pertinently, right from Sheikh Abdullah’s government to his successors, there were discourses of the treasure being auctioned and the money being used for development projects all over the state but the same has not happened ill date.

Even, Dr. Karan Singh, Maharaja Hari Singh’s son claimed his right on the treasure, which the Supreme Court of India did not approve of. Seemingly, the state government still continues to be the custodian of this priceless legacy. However, little do the people of Kashmir know about it.

3 Fci officials detained

Annoyed over the detention of their three colleagues from Regional Center Bahu Plaza yesterday by Crime Branch, employees and workers of Food Corporation of India (FCI) this morning went on indefinite strike across Jammu and Kashmir.

They were demanding unconditional release of their comrades and action against the involved officials of Crime Branch, alleging that this was a case of illegal detentions. The Crime Branch, however, maintained that the FCI authorities had been detailed about the case and denied that there was anything illegal about the arrests.

All the regional, district and tehsil offices, centres and godowns of FCI across the state remained closed throughout the day as the employees and workers went on strike. FCI Executive Staff Union, FCI Staff Union, Bhartiya Khadaye, Nigam Karamchari Union, Class IV employees Union and FCI workers’ Union have jointly given the strike call against the detention of their colleagues.

Infuriated over what they said was ‘illegal detention’ of three colleagues namely Satbir Singh (Assistant Grade I), Vijay Anand (Assistant Grade II) and Rattan Chand Assistant Grade (II) from regional Center Bahu Plaza last evening, all the employees and workers of FCI today morning assembled outside the Regional Center FCI Bahu Plaza. They were raising slogans against the Crime Branch authorities and in favour of their demands.

While criticising the Crime Branch authorities, President FCI Staff Union North India Daljeet Singh said that without permission of FCI management, the Crime Branch authorities had detained three FCI officials and taken them to unknown place.

“Crime Brach authorities have arrested our colleagues on the pretext of pilferage of ration but we ask them who is the main culprit? FCI is a central agency and Crime Branch has no authority to take action against FCI officials. It is only to save the real culprits that the Crime Branch authorities are harassing our colleagues, considering them as soft targets,” he said and alleged that the actual culprits have strong political links and so Crime  Branch is not taking action against them.

FCI Executive Staff Union Chairman Multan Singh said, “FCI has no role in the public distribution system. We only supervise and are responsible during the loading of ration on trucks from our godowns, after which it is the responsibility of contractors to deliver the ration at various destinations”. He further said, “FCI authorities took lakhs of rupees from the contractors in advance as security. If some contractor would sell the ration illegally, FCI authorities charge double the cost of food grain from the same contractor.”

All the employees in one voice demanded unconditional release of their colleagues and action against the officers of Crime Branch who had detained their colleagues illegally without any arrest warrant. Employees and workers also decided to continue their strike till the fulfillment of their demands.

Inspector General Crime Branch Raja Aijaj Ali, however, said, “A complaint under FIR 17/2009 had been lodged at Police station Crime Branch Kashmir in year 2009. As per the complaint, 144 trucks of ration were loaded from FCI depot Jammu but all these trucks had not crossed the Lower Munda toll post”.

“During investigation of the case, Crime Branch found that out of 144 trucks, 80 vehicles were either scooters or cars. They made fictitious brouchers of the vehicles and all the ration had been sold in the black market” he said.

He further added that they had already informed the FCI administration around 15 days ago about the likely involvement of some employees in a criminal case but they had requested for some days time for ration supply to various areas. “The administration had agreed to handover the involved employees after few days but they were unable to do so after which we arrested the employees,” he further said.

When asked about the involvement of influential Contractors in the pilferage of ration, he said that the detained FCI employees, who have been caught on suspicion, know about the culprits and contractors involved in that huge scam and on their disclosure the actual culprits would be caught. They are being interrogated and further investigations are going on.  

First Batch of Hajjis Reach Valley

The first batch of  Hajj pilgrims from the state arrived here today.Chief minister, Omar Abdullah received the pilgrims at the airport here. Minister of state for Hajj and Auqaf, Ajaz Ahmad Khan, was present on the occasion.279 pilgrims formed the first batch and were flown here in an Indian Airlines plane.While interacting with the pilgrims, Omar  enquired about their well being. He congratulated them for performing the Hajj successfully and returning to their homes.The pilgrims expressed satisfaction over the arrangements made by the government for their smooth travelling and stay at holy places.

Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah today received the first batch of Hajjis at Srinagar Airport who returned back after performing the Hajj.

The Minister of State for Hajj and Auqaf, Ajaz Ahmad Khan was present on the occasion.

While interacting with the Hajjis, Omar Abdullah enquired of their welfare and shared wishes with them. He congratulated them for performing the Hajj successfully and returning back to their homes.

The Hajjis expressed satisfaction over the arrangements made by the Government for their smooth travelling and stay at holy places.

The first batch of 279 Hajjis arrived here today by Indian Airlines flight.

The Additional Commissioner, Kashmir, Abdul Majid Wani, DIG Srinagar-Budgam, Abdul Gani Mir, Director Information, Khawaja Farooq Renzushah, Deputy Commissioner, Budgam, Mohammad Rafi, Director, Airport Authority of India, Raj K. Malik, and other officers were also present on the occasion.

Non local labourers in Kashmir Valley

50% increase in migration of non-local labourers in 10 yrs

In the last 10 years, the immigration of non-local migrant laborers to Kashmir has been more than 50 percent. There has been a rising trend in the migration over the past 30 years.From the year 2000-2010 Valley has witnessed 51.19 percent migrations of non local laborers to Kashmir. The migration has been taking place since 1980.

From 1980-1990 there was 05.97 percent migration while from 1990-2000 there was 20.19 percent migration.The revelation was made in the study conducted by the sociology department of University of Kashmir, with Prof B.A.Dabla being the principle investigator. The study titled ‘Causes and Consequences of Labour Migration in Kashmir’ says that 79.85 percent are male migrants while 1.95 percent females.

55.92 percent of total migrant laborers belonged to the age group of 19-30 years; about 20.64 percent belonged to 31-45 years while 17.80 percent belonged to 8.18 percent.The majority of the migrants hail from Bihar which account for 46.93 percent, followed by Uttar Pradesh (15.33 percent), Madhya Pradesh (01.86percent), Gujarat (08.86 percent), Nepal (0.83 percent) and Punjab (3.45percent).

However out of the total number of migrant labors, 45.52 percent stayed in Kashmir only for summer while others preferred staying for the whole year.

As the occupations of the migrant labors are concerned, most of them are involved manual labor and masonry. Around 23.85 percent are involved in manual labor, 17.40 percent are involve in masonry, 10 percent work as carpenters and painters and more than once percent are involved in agricultural activities.

While most the migrant labor is living individually here, 19.84 percent migrated with their families.The major problems faced by the migrants labor is child labor. According to the study, 13.10 percent face problem of children labor, 33.45 percent face accommodation issues, and 14.53 percent face health problems and 9.06 face drug addictions.

It was found that 1.60 percent of the migrant labors had contact with some trade union while 41.02 percent had no contacts.

More than seventeen percent of the migrant labors were motivated by the contractors to come to Kashmir; the study revealed that 10.07 percent of labors were motivated by employers, 16 percent by agent and 17.21 percent by the contractors.Working in Kashmir has raised the income of most of the labor. More than 70 percent of the labors had improved mean of income after working in Kashmir. In some areas the migrant labors had replaced local workers as well. Though 50.48 percent had not replaced local workers, 25.02 percent migrants had replaced local workers

in their area.

Kashmir silk industry

The competition posed by Chinese silk yarn and the defective process of silk production is threatening the traditional silk industry of Kashmir.

Average cocoons productivity of the state is about 35 kg per 100 Disease Free Laying’s, which is far less than the national average. At present only 25 percent of cocoons are utilized by the private reelers of the state while rest of the cocoons are disposed off to outside traders, resulting in heavy value loss.

The reasons analyzed are the slow progress of sericulture sector of the state. As per the report provided by the Sericulture Department, mulberry cultivation is currently propagated only in departmental nurseries. Mulberry is raised only under rain fed conditions and field survivability is as low as 30 percent. Besides due to the non application of inputs, improper leaf harvesting and non adherence of advocated cultural operations the quality of leaf also gets significantly affected at the farmer’s level.

The report says, even as entire quantity of silkworms seed distribution for field rearing are produced from  improved breeds, but due to the improper rearing condition at the farmer’s level, the productive is affected. It has been observed that 10-15 percent worms are lost during chawki stage, thereby affecting cocoon yield.

Other threats faced by the silk industry include increasing competition with other agriculture crops, dumping of the bivoltine silk but bother countries, available at cheaper rates, lack of good post cocoon sector resulting in the production of low grade silk and no value addition, backward and forward linkage.

Currently the state produces 900 MTs of cocoons which generated an income of Rs 1100lakhs. The department has 173 mulberry nurseries spread over an area of 963 acres.

The number of rears in the state has declined from 60,000 in 1947 to 2500 in 2011. The total area under mulberry is 7075 hectors.

Talking to Kashmir Times, additional director, Sericulture Department, Dr Malik Farooq said that major reason for the decline of silk industry was the introduction of Chinese silk yarn which is availability to the customer at lower price.“Chinese silk has given tough competition. Our rearers suffer as people prefer China silk to Kashmir silk,” Farooq said.He said that the government is doing its best to have better the means of silk rearing and processing to prevent the losses.“We have many strategies in our list which will revive the silk industry. Infact over past few years there has been an increase in the production,” said Malik Farooq.

3 CNG stations in J&K soon

In order to ease rush on petrol pumps in the State, Oil Industry of India would soon set up 3 CNG stations in the State.

This was revealed at a meeting of high level officers and representatives of various oil companies, consumer council members and representatives of traders federations of Kashmir and Jammu chaired by Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) Qamar Ali Akhoon.

The State Level Coordinator of Oil Industries R. C. Sharaf apprised the Minister that 2 sites have been identified in Kashmir and Jammu for the purpose. He said that work would be started shortly.

While reviewing the stock, storage and supply position of LPG in the State, the Minister said that Centre has already agreed to set up gas agencies at block level, adding that providing basic amenities to the consumers at their door steps is priority of the Government.

Mr Akhoon called upon the oil companies to make adequate stock of LPG cylinders in various parts of the Valley to meet the winter requirements. He stressed upon the authorities to strengthen the home and spot delivery system so that the consumers don't not face any problem in getting gas.

Rail services suspended in valley

The derailment of the Srinagar bound train allegedly due to negligence of railway authorities near Sadoora railway station in South Kashmir yesterday led to the suspension of the rail services in the valley today. The suspension of the rail services without any announcement by the railway authorities caused much inconvenience to the passengers.Official sources said that the authorities suspended the rail services today as they remained busy with the maintenance of  the railway track throughout the day.“After the yesterday’s incident the railway officials were directed to carry out the maintenance of the train and the track at the site of the accident leading to the suspension of the train services throughout the day today,” official sources said.

A railway official said that the morning train from Baramulla to Qazigund will ply as per the scheduled time tomorrow after which the services may again be suspended.“It may take few more days to carry out the complete maintenance of all the compartments of the train so the authorities may again suspend the rail service in the afternoon tomorrow,” he said.

Meanwhile the unannounced suspension of the rail service caused a lot of inconvenience to the passengers at many railway stations. “Many passengers had arrived at various railway stations early this morning to board the train to their respective destinations but much to their inconvenience they were informed that the train will remain suspended. The railway authorities should have made prior announcement about the suspension of the rail services,” said a railway official wishing anonymity.

3 lakh mobile connections barred in J&K

The latest mobile subscriber figures with the telecom operators in Jammu and Kashmir have heavily gone down. Over three lakh mobile subscribers in the state have been barred here in the month ending September, 2011, latest report released by the Cellular Operators Association of India reveals.

According to the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI)—the society dedicated to advancement of modern communication through cellular mobile telephone services, 3,10,627 mobile subscribers had been disconnected in the state. However, few companies have expanded their customer base and this has brought the total number of disconnected subscribers down to 264,407 cell users.

The total telecom users have gone down from 5,343,800 to 5,079,393 subscribers, which is a loss of 4.95 per cent in September, 2011. “Most of the connections that had been barred were prepaid SIM services,” said a telecom operator here.

During the month, Dishnet Wireless saw the highest disconnections of 287,393 cell users and the companies’ subscriber base has gone down from 1,783,650 to 1,496,257 users. BSNL faced a cut of 23,234 subscribers and its base was reduced from 894,661 to 871,427 users during the same period.

However, Bharti Airtel added 12,234 users in September and its total base had gone up from 1,937,286 to 1,949,520 users. While, Vodafone Essar gained 19,800 subscribers and its base had grown from 588,148 to 607,948 users. Idea too has added 14,186 users and its figures had gone up from 140,055 to 154,241 mobile subscribers.

The decision would have an impact on over all market size of the mobile service providers, believe authorized telecom kiosks.“Most of the customers come to us for pre paid connections but now with the stringent procedure in place for new connections we would not be able to make much sales,” a local dealer said who wished not to be named.

A prepaid SIM subscriber, Mushtaq Ahmad said, “Most of the barred connections were from the poorer section of the society. As most of the persons from the poor strata possess prepaid SIM cards,” adding, "The prepaid scheme is meant mainly for below poverty line section.” The stern procedure for issuance of new SIM cards would hamper the growth of the mobile subscribers in remote rural areas, Ahmad lamented.

Army writes to Omar on Afspa

In an attempt to make Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah see sense and change his mind on the controversial issue of withdrawal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from parts of the Kashmir Valley, the army has written a note to the state government presenting the actual data related to terrorism hit areas,” reports a national TV news channel, Headlines Today.

The army note, accessed by Headlines Today, has been written amidst an atmosphere of severe acrimony between the state government and the armed forces. Omar had on Thursday said that there was no option of AFSPA remaining in certain areas of the Kashmir Valley.

However, the army put forward some precise points to persuade the chief minister against his stand on AFSPA.

“The army explicitly told the state government that the nexus between Pakistan army, its spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), separatists and terrorists wanted disempowerment of the armed forces to facilitate their agenda,” reports the TV channel The army's internal note also conveys that relative peace in some areas was because of security forces, which includes an "active intelligence grid", and should not be frittered away.
So far unofficial, the army note also puts down shocking figures on paper. It says that 2,500 militants  in PAK and Pakistan, 400  in J&K, 20,000 released militants who could be exploited and 42 active militant camps in Pakistan could again disrupt peace in the valley if AFSPA was withdrawn.

The army also told the state government that the idea of secession was still being propagated by groups with vested interest. Significantly, the army has insisted that the AFSPA was not draconian and its note lists out the several checks and balances in place to minimise human rights violations.

Perhaps the most crucial point that Omar government continues to ignore was that partial revocation of AFSPA was not conducive to army operations since the army headquarters, its logistic installations and strategic lines of communication (Leh-Ladakh) pass through such areas, the army has also been in a fix because by saying it was open to discussions the Omar government has put a lid on dialogue over the issue.

Good days of tourism

Asserting that tourism is an economic activity and should not be equated with the phenomenon of normalcy, Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said that the visit of over 6 lakh visitors to the Valley this summer should serve a loud message for change of travel advisories issued by various countries regarding Jammu and Kashmir.

Expressing satisfaction over the modifications effected by some countries in this regard, he hoped that other countries would also follow the suit. He said that up till now 1.3 million visitors and yatris have visited the Valley indicating return of good days of tourism. "This should be a guiding observation for the countries to remove the travel advisories they have issued to their citizens regarding travelling to the State", he said.

Addressing the 4-day 9th Annual Convention of Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) at SKICC here, the Chief Minister said that the concept of relating tourism activities with the normalcy needed to be changed and tourism regarded as a sheer economic activity.

Omar Abdullah said that Jammu and Kashmir possesses vast potential of adventure tourism which is gaining popularity and momentum globally over the conventional tourism. "Our mountains and rivers are great gifts of God and these offer unique and wide-ranging adventure interests for trekkers, mountaineers, river-rafters, para-gliders, skiers and others", he said, adding that the danger attributed to these activities is simply a misgiving.

"The lovers of adventure sports undertake these activities in a safe mode and the graph of its popularity is steadily on upward trend", he said, adding that the challenge before the State is to showcase this potential of the State in a befitting manner. He said that the concerned department should also produce generation of trained personnel and guides in this field.

The Chief Minister said that ATOAI can help the State to move forward in this direction and train local youth. He said that the State has also to concentrate on improving and upgrading capacities besides raising necessary infrastructure. He said that the local people associated with tourism especially the youth are required to learn from such conferences, understand the requirements and necessities of adventure tourism and also display their views regarding this activity.

Omar Abdullah said that the adventure tourism in the State can be harnessed in a big way to generate jobs and give boost to the economy across the State. He underlined the need for joint efforts by all the stakeholders to nurture this economically viable venture and open vistas for progress and development in the State.

Minister for Tourism, Nawang Rigzin Jora in his speech highlighted the tourist potential of the State, adding that adventure tourism has a great future here. He presented the resume of the measures put in place in the State for the holistic and integrated development of the tourism sector.

Among others the function was attended by Minister of State for Tourism, Nasir Aslam Wani, Union Secretary Tourism, Rajen Habib Khawaja, Secretary Tourism Department, Atal Dullo, President ATOAI, Tejbir Singh Anand, Convention chairman and founder president of ATOAI, Capt. Sudesh Kumar and Director Tourism, Kashmir, Farooq Ahmad Shah.

Scholar alleges harassment by KU

A scholar at Kashmir University’s biochemistry department today alleged that he is being harassed by the authorities for seeking information under RTI.

The student, Arif Ahmad, alleged that he has been thrashed several times and was denied entry to the laboratory for seeking information about eligibility criteria for selection of Junior Research Fellow in the department of Immunology at SKIMS. The immunology department, Arif alleged, has selected an influential candidate in violation of the criteria.

“After advertising the post, SKIMS selected an influential candidate. It was done in violation of the criteria so I submitted an application for information about selection process.

“Next day, I was called to the department of biochemistry KU where three professors caged me in a room and in their presence the brother of the candidate beat me up. I was released only after I called the registrar,” Arif told Kashmir Times.

Arif said he was offered a monthly remuneration of Rs 18000 per month by the department for putting an end to the issue and for withdrawing the RTI application.

However, according to Arif, he turned down the offer that prompted the authorities to deny him entry into the laboratory.

“I wrote a letter to the registrar who referred it to the department. And surprisingly the department blamed me for not submitting the synopsis,” he alleged.

The blame forced the scholar to file an RTI application in the University seeking information about the number of scholars selected in the biochemistry department this year. But it landed him in more trouble, he said.

“When I went to collect the information, I was told that it is incomplete. And they asked me to go to the HoD biochemistry’s office. But as I was leaving the office, chief proctor caught me from the neck and shoved me into his chamber.

“There he asked the female staff to leave and closed the door. Afterwards he and his uniformed men beat me up for about an hour. Finally they called the security officer and lied to him that I had assaulted the chief proctor,” Arif alleged. The scholar has submitted a complaint in the office of chief information commissioner who, according to the officials, has sent a show cause notice to the varsity authorities.

He has also sent a written application to the Superintendent of Police Hazratbal, but so for there has been no response.Arif alleged that the varsity officials are not allowing him to meet the vice chancellor while “the police are also siding with the varsity.”

“The SP or the SHO are not responding to my complaint despite repeated pleas. I tried several times to meet the VC but the chief proctor and his allies have strictly instructed VC’s special secretary to prevent me from meeting him,” he alleged.

Arif said he is mulling to approach the State Human Rights Commission for justice in the case.

When contacted, the registrar KU, Prof S Fayaz, termed issue as “scholar’s misgiving.”“So far RTI is concerned, there is a proper procedure in place and we have no reason to deny information to anyone. Regarding the harassment allegations I do not think the university professors will harass or beat up anyone,” he said.

July 13 as Black Day

Kashmiri Pandits observed July 13 as a Black Day today.

Joint Forum of K P organizations held a demonstration here today and marched towards the UNO office at Jammu to register its protest on Black Day. The demonstration was led by A N Vaishnavi, president ASKPC, Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo, president Panun Kashmir, H L Chatta, general secretary ASKPC, D N Kissu, chairman Non Camp, R K Raina senior vice president, ASKPC, Virender Raina, national spokesperson of the Joint Forum and S Prem Singh, president Kashmiri Sikh Displaced Front.

Addressing the demonstrators, Vaishnavi reiterated his demand that KPs be recognized as internally displaced people and their issues be settled as per international covenants applicable to IDPs. He alleged that the mindset of interlocutors is at a complete variance with the nationalist point of view on Kashmir issue who are creating a very unpalatable situation for the nationalist elements in J&K.

Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo said that July 13 reminds the KPs of the attempt of genocide that was committed against the community in Kashmir in 1931. A design to ethnically cleanse the Kashmir of its minorities was hatched at the behest of the communal forces, he added.

H L Chatta said that mere economic or employment packages’ can’t pave way for Kashmiri Hindus to resettle in Valley, unless their geopolitical aspirations are met, there is no possibility of the Pandits return to Kashmir.

A joint meeting was organized by Panun Kashmir and its women wing Kashmira Vahini today to observe the Black Day. The participants wearing black bands in token of a strong protest against persistent moves of State Government to call July 13 as martyrs’ day while in fact it was a day when frenzy mobs in Srinagar attacked and looted the shops and houses of Kashmiri, Punjabi and Dogra Hindus.

They said nine Pandits were done to death and scores of houses were looted on this day in 1931.

Dr Agnishekhar, convener PK, while paying tributes to the Hindu victims of 1931 expressed surprise and indignation that those Kashmiri Pandits who were killed by the frenzy mob have been left unrecorded and unsung by State authorities while their tormentors are continuously eulogized and bestowed tributes by the main stream political parties of the Valley. He said after brief lull of 123 years of Dogra rule during which Pandits felt a relief after being continuously persecuted since 14th century, had again to face persecution from this day in 1931 till date.

Others who paid tributes to Hindu victims of 1931 included PK president Vijay Bhat, its political secretary Sanjay Raina, national spokesperson Kashmira Vahini, Dr Khema Koul, Shiban Khaibri, media chairman PK and Sanjay Dattatrey, national coordinator PK.

Decrying the July 13 as the Black Day in the history of the State, Jammu and Kashmir Vichar Manch (JKVM) in a meeting today called on the people of the State to recognize the communal agenda of July 13, 1931. The meeting took stock of the current situation in Kashmir and the challenges before the displaced Hindus from the Valley who were the primary targets of the rioters of 1931.

In his address Dr R L Bhat pointed out that the events preceeding the communal riots of July 13, 1931 and the events that took place on this day were communal in character and directed against the Maharaja not for his being a dictator but for being a Hindu. The rioters too targeted the Hindus, their houses and business establishments. The most unfortunate aspect of this has been the recent lionization of non Kashmiri instigator of July 13 riots, Abdul Kadir in Kashmir.

The meeting among others was addressed by Kashmiri Lal Bhat, M M Thaploo, M L Bhat, Chand Ji Pandita, P L Bhat, H L Bhat, national general secretary, JKVM, B L Bhat its state president and Dr AN Pandita chairman Pt Prem Nath Bhat Memorial Trust.

Kashmiri Pandit Conference (KPC) observed the day as Black Day and its activists wore the black badges besides the people switched off the lights on their respective houses and residences on the appeal of the organization this evening for one hour.

Besides to protest against the atrocities committed on the community on July 13 in 1931 the protest was held to draw the attention of Government, political parties throughout the country towards the problems of the KPs, said Kundan Kashmiri national president of the organization.

He, while addressing the gathering at Dwarika New Delhi appealed the community to be united at this crucial juncture and warned Government and its agents not to play with the aspirations of the community.