Violence against women on the rise in Jammu, 605 cases registered last year

Tahir Mushtaq


JAMMU, Jan 28: Domestic violence again women are on the rise in Jammu and Kashmir. Even the educated and the economically independent women are at the receiving end, according to anecdotal evidence contained in police data.

Police figures show an increase in domestic violence cases, mostly relating to matrimonial disputes and family squabbles. Harassment for dowry too is one of the most common complaints lodged with the police, data shows.

Comparing the figures in 2010-2011 the city witnessed a total of 1100 cases of domestic violence but this time till end of 2011, nearly 605 cases have been reported in the Women Cell of the police.

As per the data, about 400 domestic violence cases have been sorted out after mutual compromise while FIR has been registered in 14 cases at Women Cell, Canal Road. Nearly 191 cases are pending before the court for hearing.

"My higher qualification above that of my spouse became the biggest drawback as my in-laws suspected me of dominating their son," said a aggravated women on condition of anonymity

Whereas the state has amendment the act against domestic violence which will cover with the physical, psychological and sexual violence committed on women adding physical injuries, verbal abuse, harassment and even threatening of women, but still fair sex is facing problems.

As in the earlier cases the women cell was only allowed to register the case without taking any appropriate action but now under the act any domestic violence particularly harassment committed on women will be highly punishable.

Under sub section 498 minimum 3 years of imprisonment would be awarded to the culprit".

“Women's boldness is most often mistaken for arrogance and this according to many is justifiable in her getting beaten up by their spouses. While some find the courage to speak up or walk out, there are others still bound by family pressures and keep the matter within the four walls of the house," said a police official.

He said that every possible facility is being provided to the victim but the domestic violence cannot be avoided as it is an unnoticed evil in the society.

Singh’s deputation

GMC: Doctors fight who will be Principal in absence of Dr Rajinder Singh


Tahir Mushtaq

JAMMU, Jan 24: Government Medical College and Hospital (GMC) Jammu is often in news for one or the other reason, but this time the fight is for the chair of GMC principal.

As far as health facility is concern on records it is one of the main hospital in Jammu province, but in reality the picture reflects the opposite side of the mirror.

These days the issue of GMC principal is becoming the talk of the town. Everyone in the administration keep eyes on the chair of the principal.

As far as concerning about the present principal of GMC Dr Rajinder Singh is going for a short term course for three months to PGI Chandhigarh from February 1 to April this year.
In between the duration of three months GMC require a principal who takes the charge and handle the position.


HoD ENT, Dr Anees Choudhary who is often taking the charge in absence of Dr Rajinder Singh in on the top list, but the faculty members didn’t agree with the decision to give charge of principal to Dr Choudhary.


Sources if believed said that there are many complained filed to the higher authorities against Dr Anees Choudhary in which he found guilty.


Sources disclosed that the then HoD Dr Jyoti Prakash Gupta has filed a complained under letter no INT/94/117 dated 06-06-1994, Dr Kulbushan Lal that time was Principal GMC submitted complain under GMC/PA/94-95/219-20 dated 14-02-1995, the then Dr Jagan Singh also submitted the report against Dr Choudhary under letter no. BINT/174/97 dated 07-08-97 and Dr P K Hak filed complaint on 12-03-97 besides the principal GMC, Jammu of that time Dr H L Goswami filed complain GMC/ISTT/GD/PAF/1857 dated 03-03-2005 against Dr Anees Choudhary, but the administration didn’t take any action against him.

Sources added that for the prestigious post of GMC principal the person should be well educated and should followed all the require norms that is essential for the high level position in GMC.


“As there are many pending enquiry against Dr Choudhary so he is not eligible for the holding the position of principal of GMC” said a doctor of GMC.

Govt deptt owe whopping Rs 605 crore to PDD

Tahir Mushtaq


JAMMU, Jan 23: At a time when Government is making tall claims of reforming the power sector in the state and achieve revenue targets, different government departments still owe whopping Rs 605 crore to the Power Development Department (PDD).


Officials said that this is the main hindrance in way of the Department to achieve its revenue targets. Sources said that most of the Government offices are using the electricity with impunity and despite repeated notices they have not responded to them.


Sources said that government employees alone owe nearly Rs 28 crore to the department, putting question mark on the measures taken by the Omar Abdullah led government on reforming the electricity sector. It is pertinent to mention here that of the budget of Rs 5000 crore for the state, power sector consumes about Rs 2400 crore annually, while the revenue collection is just Rs 600-800 crore.


“Speeches are ok, but no sincere steps are being taken by the PDD to recover the money from the defaulters. It will take years before the pending arrears are cleared by the government”, said a senior officer from the PDD on condition of anonymity.


When contacted, PDD Chief Engineer Mohammad Qasim said, “We have taken steps for recovery but it will take time. These are pending for last many years and departments are also cooperating”.


He said that they have took up the matter with the Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah who have assured that he will ensure that arrears are cleared.


Every year PDD has the target of nearly Rs 1500 crore as revenue, but they are able to recover just Rs 600 to Rs 800 crore annually, due to which state had to face the wrath of the Union Power Ministry, which has warned the J&K from time to time, to improve its revenue collection.


"While people are being made to shell out fees even using harsh measures, no effort is being made to recover dues from the departments who have emerged as major defaulters", said a official.


It is pertinent to mention here that Power sector is a major headache for the J&K, while its use is increasing every year, but state had to divert crores to keep the power supply stable. Another worry is the higher Transmission and Distribution losses, which ahs reached nearly 72 per cent from 40 per cent just five years ago.
Government has recently said that they intend to install 1200 capacitors to keep check on the losses on the advice of experts committee, but so far the project has also not helped much to check the losses.


For providing uninterrupted power supply state requires nearly 2500 MWs of power at present. The restricted demand of power was nearly 700 MW for Jammu region and 800 MW for Kashmir region, which comes out at 1500 MW, but revenue recovery is falling every year.


As per the data industry sector was to pay Rs 55.01 crore, while domestic sector Rs 216.14 crore and the agriculture sector owed Rs 147.81 crore for electricity consumed.

Begging menace assumes alarming dimensions in city

Tahir Mushtaq


JAMMU, Jan 22: Begging, the most common urban problem has taken alarming dimensions in Jammu city, with children as young as six years in shabby conditions roaming the market places and seeking alms. 


Come Monday, Friday or Saturday, a large number of beggars can be found outside temples and mosques seeking Rupees one or two from the visitors. Other favourite destinations are bus stand and Raghunath temple, railway station, taxi stand, Jewel chowk and Kachi Chawani areas which remain abuzz with tourist pilgrims. 


“They have become a nuisance for the people particularly the tourists as they follow them in the markets. Though they are mostly children, but their handlers are always near them keeping a close watch”, said a shopkeeper at Raghunath Bazaar. 


Though it is banned, but in absence of strong anti-begging law and juvenile homes, administration has turned blind eye towards the menace. Most of these unfortunate souls are from outside the state and are allegedly being forced into the ‘profession’ by begging mafia. 


“Beggars in Jammu are mostly from other parts of the country who are brought here under a well planned strategy not only to fleece but also to commit petty crimes- the government however seems to be sleeping over the issue” said Rashmi Singh, a housewife. 


As per Ramesh Sharma, who runs an NGO, since last few years begging has become a trade. Kapil said that there is a big syndicate behind the begging menace who mostly target affluent class, tourists and foreigners. 


“They sometime keep following the person until he pays something. Mostly children between the age group of three to seven and that too mostly girls, their number is fast increasing”, she said. She said that there is need to counsel the professional beggars and motivate them to work with their hands. “There is a Need to rehabilitate young girls and children who unfortunately have got trapped into this social evil due to one or the other reason”.

PDD's customer friendly move, to start call center

Tahir Mushtaq


JAMMU, Jan 21: With complaints against the services of Power Development Department (PDD) rising every month, government has directed the department to establish call centers in Jammu and at Srinagar divisions. 


According to the sources, it is proposed the 24-hour cells will have all the latest equipment like dedicated phone lines, computers, faxes and separate staff so that they can register and take necessary steps to solve the problems of the consumers, who have to face tough time to get their problems resolved. 


PDD already had complaint cells, but lack of coordination and accountability within the department make it impossible for the common man to get solution, as far as any electricity related problem is concerned. 


According to the sources, although funds are being diverted for the project by the state government, officials have been asked to identity necessary space for the upcoming centre to make it functional for the general public in coming months. Officials said that the authorities have asked the respective Chief Engineers to give it a priority. PDD is one of the departments in the state which is very poor in dealing with the consumers and sometimes people have to waits for days or even months to get rid of their problems. 
A official said, “We have been asked to set up the call centre cum grievance cell and process has been started for the same”. 


He further said that although no time frame has been set up for the purpose, to make it functional, but necessary ground work is being conducted for the purpose. 


“We can’t make it functional in one day but it will take some time but till then we have kept some employees especially for the grievance registration”, official said. 


After the government started the process of e-metering and the computerised billing for the consumers in Jammu and Kashmir, the people are facing lot of problems, but in absence of proper channel at the department, they are confused by the red-tapism at the respective PDD offices. 
“I have received a tariff bill about three months back, but the amount shown is more than what I have consumed, but nobody taken interest to correct it”, said a consumer, Vicky Sharma from Janipur area. 


The basic problem faced by the consumers in the state is mainly related to electricity supply, fault in respective supply lines and billing complaints. The problem gets more complicated in rural and far- flung areas of the state, were damages to transforms or any other fault, people have to wait for months together, as most of them don’t know whom to approach to resolve their issues. 


Chief Engineer further said, “It is aimed at streamlining the system so that we can reduce the time as far as fault repairing or any other complaint is concerned”. 


It is pertinent to mention here that in recent years PDD is on major revenue realization drive, after the tough stand taken by the central government against J&K. This year government has set a target of collecting Rs 408 crore from Jammu region and Rs 623 crore from Kashmir region.

PCB to monitor influx of polythene bags in the state

Tahir Mushtaq


JAMMU, Jan 20: From now on, only the ISO-certified, bio-plastic bags will be allowed in Jammu and Kashmir, to ensure that the inflow of fake bio-bags being pumped in by some private companies was stopped.


Sources said that though many companies are selling bio-degradable bags in the market, but most of them have not got approval from the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB).


The advantage of bio-plastic products is that these degrade in six months and are non-toxic in nature and completely mingle with its environment, even in water without leaving any toxic effect.
State High Court and government has banned the use of polythene in Jammu and Kashmir in 2008. As per expert views close to 70 percent of the garbage in the major cities consists of plastic bags which choke the drains. It is also found littered around the garbage dumps.


Most of the biopolymers are based on corn, wheat and potato starch and polycaprolactone, which are being used in many cities of the country to end the dependence on the polythene and plastic products.


Officials said that SPCB has decided to send samples of the bio-plastic bags to the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology for checking their quality before granting approval and banning the other which does not qualify the standard.


“It has become necessary to introduce bio degradable bags in the state as until an alternate for the polythene is not available the enforcement of total ban on its use can not prove effective. We cannot ignore the fact that these have become a major threat to environment”, said an official.


Sources said that “Few companies are selling biodegradable bags in the market, but none had sought permission from the board.


However earlier, the standards were not laid for their sale, but now the ISO certification has been made mandatory to safeguard environment.


It is pertinent to mention here that about two years back, state government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with an Italian firm to set up North India’s first integrated Bio-Polythene plant, but the plastic lobby derailed the ambitious project.

Proposal to increase MBBS seats in medical colleges of J&K still a dream

Tahir Mushtaq

JAMMU, Jan 18: While government makes tall claims of improving the health infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir, but it mostly forgets to fully implement its policies.


Few years back, department of health and medical education had submitted a proposal to increase the number of seats in Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) in both the Government Medical Colleges (GMC) of Jammu and Srinagar from 100 to 150 per college.

The same was planned to implement from the next session, but till date nothing changed in the number of seats in MBBS.


Sources said that the Medical Council of India (MCI) teams have also conducted two inspections in both Medical Colleges of the state.


Similarly, in the GMC Srinagar, the teams had pointed out shortage of faculty in some streams. When the team visited second time the GMC Jammu had overcome all infrastructure deficiencies and that time the MCI team were satisfied on account of faculty, infrastructure and other facilities required for raising number of the seats.


It is pertinent to mention here that the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad, asked the MCI to consider increase in number of the MBBS seats in GMC of Jammu and Srinagar from 100 to 150 to benefit Medical aspirants as well as overcome shortage of doctors in rural areas.


For that the MCI had deputed its team to check the essential things included faculty, infrastructure and other required equipments for the smooth functioning system after increasing number of the MBBS seats in both Medical Colleges.


However, the said team had pointed out certain deficiencies in infrastructure in GMC Jammu. But, the team approved the number of faculty for increasing of number of MBBS seats from 100 to 150.


But till now no communication has been made by the MCI to revise the number to seats upto 300 in two GMC colleges of the state.


When contacted Minister for Medical Education, R S Chib said “The department has sent the proposal to the MCI to increase the number of seats in both the colleges”. 


Chib further stated that its upto the MCI to finalized the project and raised the seats from 200 to 300 in both GMC Jammu and Srinagar.

NH-1 still closed due to accumulation of heavy snow on the road

Tahir Mushtaq

JAMMU, Jan 17: With several avalanches hitting the 300-km long Jammu-Srinagar National Highway at Ramban and Banihal, traffic remained suspend for third day, with nearly 2000 vehicles stranded along the highway.


"There were avalanches in various places in Ramban district. But there are no reports of any casualty," Superintendent of Police (SP) Ramban Anil Magotra said.


“Due to the closure of the highway about 2055 vehicle were stranded from Jawahar Tunnel from district Samba and around 1300 passengers from Srinagar are stranded at Jammu bus stand” said officials.


Sources said that the as the snowfall stopped, life across the valley started slowly back to the normal with markets opening after two days.


The closed highway has resulted in the shortage of essential commodities like LPG cooking gas, kerosene, vegetables, chicken and mutton.


Moreover the prices of these items also increased since the road was closed from the last two days.


When contacted Inspector General Traffic, Jammu, Himmant Kumar Lohia said that the department is on work to clear the blocked highway from the morning at different part of the state.


He added that if the weather remains clear the highway hopefully be clear till evening and the traffic will start running. Meanwhile hoteliers of Jammu on their part have offered 20 to 25 per cent discount for the stranded passengers in hotels and lodges across the Jammu city.


Officials said that all the required steps would be taken for the lodging of the passengers till the road reopens. He advised them not to proceed to their destinations unless clearance by the competent authority managing the roads is sought.


Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Pawan Kotwal said that BRO has started clearance work at several places along the highway and their first priority is to clear the supply trucks particularly at Dhar Road in Udhampur and Ramban.


“There are 150-200 trucks and if the road is fully cleared, we will first allow these vehicles to proceed towards valley. But only if there is no more heavy snowfall or rainfall, which makes the road slippery”, said Kotwal.


Meanwhile administration has asked the Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters to remain on standby, in case interior roads are not cleared in Kishtwar, Bhaderwah, Doda and upper reaches of Reasi.

J&K most illiterate among northern states, census of India has found

Tahir Mushtaq

JAMMU, Jan 16: Jammu and Kashmir is least literate among northern states including the newly carved out Uttarakhand, reveals the latest census report.

Though the state’s literate population has been pegged at more than 68 percent of the total 1.25 crore persons – with a decadal growth of 13 percent - it is far behind other northern states like Himachal Pradesh (83.78 percent), Punjab (76.68 percent) Haryana (76.64 percent), Delhi (86.34 percent) and newly created Uttarakhand (79.63 percent). Jammu and Kashmir’s literate population was recorded at 55.50 percent in 2001 census.

According to the census data, more people in JK are leaving farms and villages to settle in towns and cities. Around 30 percent of over 1.25 crore state population has been recorded to be living in urban JK, the report says.

The share of urban population in the state has gone up to 27.21 percent and the people living in rural areas constitute 72.79 percent of total populace. He said the urban population has shown steady growth of more than 6 percent in past three decades as figures in 1981 stood at 21.05 percent. Data says that the gap between the urban and the rural population is narrowing and the two may cut across each other in coming few decades.

These figures have been revealed by recent Census carried out by the Union Government. As per 2011 census, Jammu and Kashmir has over 72.45 lakh (78.26 percent) literate persons including 43.70 lakh males and 28.74 lakh females. More literate population (48.98 lakh) is living in rural JK compared to 23.47 lakh in urban areas of the state.

The ratio of rural to urban literacy rate is 64.97%: 78.19%. The winter capital tops in the literacy rate at 83.98 % followed by Samba at  81.08%, while Ramban and Bandipora districts have the lowest literacy rate in the State.

332 kanals of land belonging to J&K under illegal occupation across India

Tahir Mushtaq


JAMMU, Jan 12: Nearly 1332 kanals of land owned by Jammu and Kashmir across the country is under the occupation of the respective state governments or individuals, while the state has been unable to take back the possession of its property with most of the sites facing court cases.


Be it 100 kanals of land under the occupation of the Defense forces at Raja ji Marg, New Delhi, 1200 kanals at Sarsa and 32 kanals at Amritsar, government has so far not dared to evict the occupants who have almost galloped the property of the state.


As per the data not only the land but the building and other assets belonging to the state are also under the illegal occupations as in most of the cases the lease deeds signed with parties have expired.

Chandigarh, Sector 17: The Property which is under the possession of the Labour Ministry, Government of Punjab has not given any positive response to vacate the land despite repeated reminders by the J&K government in recent past.

32 Kanals land at Amritsar: Around 32 kanals land in Amritsar which was leased out in 1957 is still in possession of tenant despite expiry of lease. “The state government has initiated three court cases against the tenant but a former Manager tempered the records with the result the land is under the occupation of the second party”.


The report also mentions that no action was initiated against the erring official and he was allowed to go scot free.

At Raja Ji Marg, New Delhi: Despite repeated requests by the government, the Defense Forces have refused to evict 100 kanals of land. Only during the tenure of Ghulam Nabi Azad as Chief Minister, the government succeeded in getting back 18 rooms of a building situated at the site.

1200 kanals land at Sarsa: The land has been allotted to some other party by the local Assistant Commissioner and the matter has been taken up at the highest level but the case had gone under litigation, making it a long drawn process before the state can get possession of the state.

Mumbai Guest House: The renovation and repair work on the Mumbai Guest house, as advised by erstwhile Estimates Committee of one bed room suite could not be accomplished because of development of some structural problem in the existing buildings and the government failed to take initiative to renovate the one bed room suite.

Website hoax: Education deptt website not updated for year

Tahir Mushtaq

JAMMU, Jan 11: Education department of the state government is meant to provide education to the masses besides updating them with the latest information, but in the state like Jammu and Kashmir how can it be possible if the department itself it not updated.

The visit of the website of Education Department of Jammu province www.schedujammu.nic.in revealed the same as the website is not updated from year.

As per the site there are only six districts in this province whereas in reality ten districts are present.

Similarly, the number government and private school in the Jammu province is also not updated from the session 2003-04 and according to them the population remains the same from the last many years.

Likewise, the appointments in the various government educational institutions of Jammu province is also stay as it is from year 2001.

Sources said that the concern authorities is busy in doing other stuff but forget to give revised information to the common masses through their website by which people easily approach them.

“This negligence shows that how education department taking things so casually” preferring anonymity said a employee of education department.

According to the officials, the administration is spending crores of rupees every year to provide ever new facility to the masses but when it comes to the basic information regarding the state and other facilities it shows the relay picture of its working system.

However, Director School Education, Jammu Gulzar Ahmed Qureshi could not be contacted for his version after repeating attempts.

Important to note here that ten years back the state government had taken a major initiative to implement E-Governance in all the departments, Public Sector Undertakings (PSU)s and other organisations under the centrally sponsored scheme.

Most of the support is provided by National Informatics Centre (NIC), which is a premier institution of the Government of India, established in 1976. However respective departments had to maintain the infrastructure which includes the software content.

A senior officer from the company said that lakhs of rupees were invested in introducing Information Technology (IT) and e-Governance in the day to day working of the government but it is not proving useful to anyone.

Govt. fails to send 20 doctors for training to run super specialty hospital

Tahir Mushtaq


JAMMU, Jan 10: State government has still failed to send nearly 20 doctors for specialised training at AIIMS New Delhi and PGI Chandigarh, to man the upcoming super specialty hospital in Jammu.


Sources said that the project has been drafted for the training of existing doctors for super specialty treatment, assumes a greater significance to keep the human resource available at the very initial stage.


Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Gulam Nabi Azad announced that a 4-member team of senior doctors two from AIIMS and two from PGI Chandigarh shall visit the state for formulation of guidelines for the training of appropriate number of existing doctors for such specialized disciplines.


It is pertinent to mention here that the government has already missed deadlines for the functioning of the said hospital several times before. And the hospital will have six super specialties, including Cardiology, Cardio Thoracic Surgery, Urology, Neurology, Neuro Surgery and Nephrology.


When contacted Minister for Medical Education, R S Chib said that the department has send about 20 to 30 doctors for short term courses if two to three months to AIIMS and PGI Chandigarh.


He added that the fresh date to for the functioning of the hospital is fixed as March 31 but department has called a final meeting on January 11 with all the associates involved in the working of Super Specialist Hospital adding that after that we will confirm the final date of completion work of the said hospital.


Whereas Commissioner Secretary Health and Medical Education G A Peer could not be contacted for his version even after repeating attempts.


Sources said that in absence of he trained doctors and other staff, equipment worth crores of rupees would not be able to function, as they need trained hands.


“I don’t think government is interested to train the doctors, they are just passing the buck on each other”, said a official.


Pertinently, the people are impatiently waiting for the functioning of Super Specialty Hospital in Jammu, but there is no guarantee that this hospital will retained the needed infrastructure and other required facilities for the health care of the people.

AIDS spreading its tentacles in rural areas

Tahir Mushtaq


JAMMU, Jan 09: With the detection of increasing number of HIV/AIDS cases from rural areas of Jammu and Kashmir, the government has decided to involve cultural organisations and theater groups to reach out to ruralities  and create awareness among them about the preventive measures against the deadly virus.


Sources said that the step has been taken after the health officials conveyed the alarming situation after the detection of some cases in far-flung areas from where the people work as labourers or drivers in different parts of the country.


According to the officials, the State AIDS Control Society has invited youth clubs and NGOs to start awareness campaigns about the deadly disease and provide consultancy services to the rural population, who are mostly unaware about the threat.


As per the records, there are 1800 full blown AIDS cases registered with the society, but their number could be in thousands as many affected persons are unaware about the infection.


Each event will be of three hours duration comprising of folk songs on AIDS awareness followed by a drama, skit and a lecture- interaction by a doctor or a counselor attached with each group. The selected groups will be paid Rs 3000 on account of performance for each programme at village, block and tehsil levels.
Officials said that the main focus is on establishing personnel contact with the risk group population so that they are able to understand the threat possessed by the AIDS.


As per the Government figures, the state had 1811 full blown AIDS cases during 2009-2010, against 1600 cases in 2007, a worrisome situation for the state health officials who fear that there may be thousands of more hidden patients .


So far as many as 95 persons have died of AIDS in J&K, while 447 cases of matured AIDS are on anti-retroviral treatment. On papers the government shows that in 2009-10, 84 per cent awareness was recorded among urban populace, while it jumped to 64 per cent in rural areas and happy with the figures officials have been claiming success in putting cap on the spread of disease.

Most of the speed breakers in city violating MoST norms

Tahir Mushtaq

JAMMU, Jan 08: Most of the speed breakers on city roads have been constructed in complete violation of the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Surface Transport (MoST), Government of India.


Sources said that there are 244 speed breakers on the minor and link roads in the city which were constructed by the J&K Public Works department. Details reflect the sorry state-of-affairs on the part of authorities concerned especially in the backdrop of increasing number of persons getting killed in road mishaps.


Only 20 Speed Breakers have cautionary signs as per IRC 67 (Indian Road Congress) are followed and in some places cautionary lines are painted with the road marking point.


Though PWD authorities have replied that there was no Speed Breaker constructed on highway by them, yet on roads there are numberless deadly speed breakers which were constructed without following guidelines.


“For the last few years there have been many fatal road accidents happened in the areas surrounding Jammu city and around but authorities remained least bothered about such incidents”, said a source.


Officials said that innocent citizens are being killed and injured in road accidents due to the negligence of the Works Department but the officer at the helm of affairs are instead of doing the needful openly confessing their negligence.


Under IRC-67 guidelines, 15 meters ahead of every speed breakers there must be cautionary sign board so that the driver may take control of the vehicle Speed and avoid the accident.


It may be recalled here that over 900 people were killed in road accidents in Jammu and Kashmir past year, taking the number of deaths caused by vehicular mishaps over the last five years close to 5,000 mark, which was higher than the number of persons killed in militancy in the corresponding period.


The number of people killed in road accidents over the years was much more than those killed in militancy-related incidents, as 3,183 persons including civilians, militants and security force personnel were killed in the five-year period from 2006-10.

Lack of drug policy gives companies to dump sub-standard drugs in J&K

Tahir Mushtaq

JAMMU, Jan 04: In absence of drug policy in the state the pharmaceuticals companies selling sub standard qualities drugs in the market without any fear.

There are many such cases came in front which shows that the companies are earning huge amounts by this taboo trade.


Sources said that there are number of cases registered against such companies and even the sub standard quality medicines were banned, but after the passage of time it will again available in the market.

“Usually it is seen that in far flung and remote areas such types of drugs is easily available on chemists shop and the chemist prefer to give these on such drugs there is more margin than other drugs” sources added.

A employees of health department prefer anonymity said that it is important to have drug policy in the state first and the concern department has to keep check on every supply of drugs in hospitals, dispensaries and chemist shops.

Additional Deputy Commission Kathua-Samba Renuka Raina said that every month the department scheduled a visit for the inspection of medicines and if found any substandard quality medicines the department takes action against the accused persons.

She further said that the administration take stream actions against the accused persons after going through all the details.

Whereas Controller Drugs and Food, Jammu Satish Gupta said that it is not easy to check which medicines is of low quality but if the department get any complaint than only we will go for the laboratory tests and other procedure under the guidelines of Government of India.


In recent years Jammu and Kashmir has invested crores of rupees in strengthening basic infrastructure in the state particularly in rural areas. With the increase in the increasing budget in the healthcare development, number of pharma companies has created market for their products here, with many of the companies dumping low cost drugs in the market which has become a major concern for the administration.

Another burden: JMC to impose sanitary tax from March

Tahir Mushtaq


JAMMU, Jan 02: Yet another burden on the pocket of common people of the state, Jammu, Municipal Corporation (JMC) has decided to impose sanitary charges from March this year. 


According to the official sources the JMC is going to take monthly charges from the 71 wards falling under its jurisdiction. The charges from the posh areas falling under ward no 20, 21, 22, 50, 53, 54, 62, 68 and 71 will be Rs. 100 per month per household including commercial establishments and for the remaining wards it is rupees Rs. 50. 


This decision was taken in a meeting of cabinet under decision no. 68/07/2011 dated 18.03.2011 charges in all wards of JMC vide no. MJ/Estt./10007-14 dated 30.03.2011. 


Now the question arises that will the common persons will bear the burden of the extra charges taken by the JMC or will the JMC able to provide the sufficient services to the people after taking fee. 


As of now it is seen that the sanitation condition in the old city is very poor and there is no such arrangement made by the concerned authorities for the proper cleanness and hygienic atmosphere there. 


Many times some private agencies were also hired by JMC and funds were also utilized to make the things in order, but all get vanished after a rainfall. It is also seen during rainy season that the streets in city area were full of water n sanitation waster due to over flow in the drains. 


Sandeep Sharma a resident of Subash Nagar said that in our ward there is no passable system for the sanitation in their locality, then how JMC is going to charge us in lieu of unable facilities. 


When contacted Joint Commissioner JMC, Babu Ram said that the corporation is going to implement the said charges from the March this year. 


He further said that the charges may be deposited in the single window of JMC or paid to the Sanitary Inspector after proper receipt.