Arrest of SKUAST Students: Parents concerned over politicisation of issue

Appeal LG to withdraw case, say raking up controversy over issue might bring “innocents” to harm

Srinagar, Nov 28 (KNO): Families of seven SKUAST-K students booked under UAPA have expressed concern over what they termed as politicisation of the issue by some leaders and activists.

In a joint statement by them issued to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), they have said that raking up controversies on the issue pending investigation might bring innocents to harm than any relief.

The statement reads that families have represented to Lt Governor for withdrawal of the case.

Earlier, in the aftermath of the arrest of the boys, they had approached the university authorities, seeking help in their release.

Families said SSP Ganderbal also was briefed over their version of the episode and they were expecting judicious disposal of the case.

They said that it looks that some quarters are trying to thrive on the miseries of innocent victims, which should be avoided and appealed to administration and authorities to withdraw the case.

They expressed hope that the arrested students will be treated with compassion and that justice will be done without getting any one to any harm.

Families expressed gratitude for the solidarity being shown by co-students of the SKUAST including those from outside Jammu and Kashmir.

It may be noted that the students, who had filed the complaint, wanted the case be withdrawn and students be released—(KNO)

CS & Secy DARPG release case studies of Good Governance Initiatives

Srinagar, Nov 28 (KNO): Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta and Secretary Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Government of India, V Srinivas today released four case studies of Good Governance Initiatives of Jammu and Kashmir.

The four initiatives are Back to Village, Empowerment (Janbhagidari) Portal, Jammu and Kashmir Bank – A story of transformation and Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana.

While launching the case studies, the Chief Secretary highlighted the stellar journey of development during the last five years and said that the transformation has been phenomenal.

He said that from a largely no tender system to a complete 100 percent e- tendering process is not a small transformation and the manner in which people have adopted the change is extremely commendable. He said that the engine of change since 2019 in JK has fundamentally changed JK forever and JK should probably be number one in terms of systems transparency.

Talking about the J&K Bank, CS said that in 2019 people were extremely sceptical about the bank but soon, the Bank figured among the top four banks in the country in achieving targets in digital payments.

As far as Back to Village is concerned, Chief Secretary said that it has evolved into Aspirational Panchayat and there is a Prabhari which is there for the entire year and more.

Dr Mehta highlighted that in terms of Good Governance, JK has been on the fore front on aspects. He said that JK is among the first to cross 1100 e-services and which we are really proud of. He said that JK is saturated on many schemes as we are No 1 in Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, No 2 in Nasha Mukt Abhiyan and No 3 in Amritsarovar. He said that JK has been on a ranking of 1-5 on many initiatives and we have hope to remain among the top five if not better than that. He said that on e-governance, J&K should not lag behind any state or UT on any parameter and urged officers to carry forward the process. He said that every work requires teamwork manner and thanked the officers for being strong pillars of the team.

V Srinivas who released the case studies through VC said that his team looks forward to circulate these case studies to all universities, government institutions and state governments. He thanked the Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta for his yeoman services to the nation which has brought in sweeping reforms in governance across the UT of J&K.

Professor and Director, Centre for Public Policy Governance and Performance, Harsh Sharma earlier gave a detailed presentation about the methodology, key elements, impact and way forward on each of the four initiatives.

He highlighted that the impact of Back to Village has been such that more than 4000 work worth of Rs. 8110 lakhs (approx.) has been completed across J&K and a Saturation coverage of 4291 Panchayats has been achieved.

He said that there is a need to prepare a framework to capture the progress made in the welfare schemes (Jal Jeevan Mission, etc.) He said that focus should be laid on development of training modules to support implementation of B2V-5 for the creation of Model Panchayats in line with the Aspirational Panchayat Development Program of J&K.

He said that there is a further need to encourage local community in decision-making processes to ensure the projects align with their needs and aspirations. Strengthening the role of Panchayats by providing them with more decision- making powers and financial resources and establishing regular channels for feedback from the local community is an imperative.

He asserted that the Empowerment portal provides detailed insights to citizens by enabling them to monitor works/projects being implemented and encouraging citizen to give their feedback about the quality and pace of work.

The impact of Janbhagidhari has been such that number of works completed increased from about 9200 in 2018-19 to 21943 in 2020- 21and more than 50,000 in 2021-22 with a decrease of 20-30% cost of execution because of better supervision and oversight by the public.

Talking about the transformation change of JK Bank he said that it registered an annual net profit of Rs 1197.38 Cr for FY 2022-23 witnessing 139% YoY growth. He said that total Business of the Bank as of 31st March 2023 stood at Rs. 212666 Crore registering a growth of 9.40%.

Talking about the impact of AB-PMJAY, he said that JK is the first UT in the country to insure its entire population and 26 lakhs (approx.) beneficiaries have been covered under AB-PMJAY. It was given out that 81 percent of beneficiary families have at least one e-card in AB-PMJAY. He said that JK has 100 percent redressal of grievances through Jammu & Kashmir – Integrated Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (JKIGRAMS) and a fine of Rs. 45 lakhs (approx.) collected through Anti-Fraud mechanism for violation of SoP—(KNO)

Prosecuting officer dismissed for taking Rs 2 lakh bribe from an accused in murder case in Rajouri

Srinagar, Nov 28 (KNO): Jammu and Kashmir government has dismissed a prosecuting officer for taking bribe of Rs 2 lakh from an accused for not getting him arrayed as an accused in a murder case in Rajouri.

According to an order, a copy of which lies with the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the government dismissed incharge senior prosecuting officer Aijaz-Ul-Hassan for taking Rs 2 lakh bribe from the accused while he was posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer in the court of Judicial Magistrate 1st Class Thanamandi.

The order states that the officer failed in maintaining absolute integrity and acted in a manner unbecoming of a government employee, thereby violating the provisions contained in J&K Employees (Conduct) Rules, 1971.

“The act on the part of the officer tantamount to a violation of Rule 3 of J&K Employees (Conduct) Rules, 1971,” it said.

It added that therefore, in terms of Rule 30(viii) of the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services (Classification, Control & Appeal) Rules, 1956, Shri Aijaz-Ul-Hassan, in charge Senior Prosecuting Officer is dismissed from service, with immediate effect, which will also disqualify him from future employment—(KNO)

Fire damages Masjid at Saraf Kadal, Sgr

Rehan Qayoom Mir

Srinagar, Nov 28 (KNO): A four-storeyed Masjid in Saraf Kadal area of downtown Srinagar was damaged in a fire incident in the intervening night of Monday-Tuesday, officials said.

An official told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the fire was reported at 1:04 AM and the fire tenders from Babademb, M R Gunj, and F&ES Headquarters were immediately dispatched to the spot.

The fire was brought under control while no loss of life or casualties were reported in the incident.

The fire, however, damaged the attic of the Masjid, they said, adding that the cause of fire is being ascertained— (KNO)