DAILY EXCELSIOR, JAMMU FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2016 (PAGE 5)
Dr Jitendra asks State Govts tostrictly follow DoPT guidelinesExcelsior Correspondent
JAIPUR, Dec 22: UnionMinister of State (IndependentCharge) for Development of NorthEastern Region (DoNER), MoSPMO, Personnel, PublicGrievances, Pensions, AtomicEnergy and Space, Dr JitendraSingh has called upon the StateGovernments to strictly follow theDoPT and ARPG guidelines laiddown by the union Ministry ofPersonnel because these are in thelarger interest of good governanceand for making the administrationmore citizen-centric and account-able.
He also put the record straightas far as the postings of districtheads are concerned and statedthat the posts of DistrictDevelopment Commissioner /District Collector or SeniorSuperintendent of Police in-chargeof district are essentially the cadreposts which are expected to befilled with officers from IAS orIPS cadre and not the provincialservices.
Dr Jitendra Singh was address-ing the valedictory session of theregional conference on“Innovation in Citizen CentricDelivery” here today. Pertinent tomention that this is one of theseries of similar regional confer-ences started by the Ministry tocarry the message of citizen- cen-tric governance to every nook andcorner of the country. The last suchconference was held in Jammuand prior to that, similar confer-ences have been held in other partsof the country, including Nagpurand Guwahati. The next such con-ference is scheduled to be held inthe month of January atVisakhapatnam in AndhraPradesh.
Speaking on the occasion, DrJitendra Singh lamented that someof the most path-breaking admin-istrative reforms brought in by theModi government in the last twoyears are yet to be effectivelyimplemented by certain StateGovernments. He particularlymentioned the revolutionary deci-sion to abolish interviews forselection to junior posts which wasannounced by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi himself and hassince been implemented in all theMinistries of the Central
Government. He urged upon theState Governments which are yetto adopt this reform to expedite it,because it is in the interest of pro-viding a level-playing field withequal opportunity to young jobseekers from every segment ofsociety regardless of their socio-economic background. At thesame time, he also had a word ofpraise for some States includingRajasthan and Maharashtra whichhad not only promptly implement-ed this reform, but also come out
with the statistics to show how theabolition of interviews had alsotremendously saved the expendi-ture of State exchequer.
Lauding the efforts of the offi-cers in the Department ofAdministrative Reforms andPublic Grievances, Dr JitendraSingh said, the citizen-centricservice delivery provision hasbeen adopted by many States, butneeds to be made more effective.In India of today, he said, wheremore than 65-70% population isbelow the age of 40 years, citizen-centric delivery essentially meansyouth-centric delivery keeping infocus the priorities and aspirationsof the youth.
Dr Jitendra Singh also compli-mented the Department of ARPGfor having activated the grievancecell and noted that in the last oneyear, the grievance disposal hasgone up to nearly 100%. He said,we follow a timeline and everyweekend not only the number ofgrievances disposed is calculated,but he himself also personally callsup some of the complainants atrandom to verify their level of sat-isfaction. At the same time, he has-tened to add that the citizens need
to be educated that the Departmentof ARPG takes the responsibilityof disposing off a grievance withina limited time-frame, but the dis-posal of the grievance does notmean that it would satisfy the aspi-ration of the complainant whichmay sometimes be subjective orunwarranted like, for example, if acomplainant has a grievance thathe was not given the promotionwhich was available to his peers,the responsibility of the ARPGDepartment is to obtain the facts
from the concerned Ministry andconvey back to him why the con-cerned Ministry did not find himfit for promotion, which, in otherwords, means that the complainthas been disposed off by theARPG Department, but that doesnot mean that ARPG can alsoensure a promotion for the com-plainant for which he rightly orwrongly feels entitled to, becausethat is an issue to be decided by theconcerned Ministry orDepartment. However, he said,complaints relating to arrear dues,pension dues, delayed passports,etc. are being invariably addressedto the complete satisfaction of thecomplainants.
Under the inspiration of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, DrJitendra Singh referred to anotherinnovative idea introduced byDepartment of ARPG last yearwherein every IAS officer, whohas put in 30 to 35 years of service,is expected to go back to his veryfirst posting as SDM or Collectorand write an account of it. This notonly enables the officer an oppor-tunity to go back to the origins ofhis service career, but also to havean assessment of how far the areahas progressed in the last threedecades during the period when hewas progressing from higher-to-higher posts, he added.
The conference wasattended,among others, by UnionSecretary ARPG C. Viswanath,Additional Secretary Usha Sharmaand Joint Secretaries from ARPG,senior Secretaries and officersfrom different State Governmentsand scholars in thefield of publicadministration.
Govt working for equitable developmentof all regions, sub-regions: DyCM
Excelsior Correspondent
RAJOURI, Dec 22: DeputyChief Minister, Dr Nirmal KumarSingh today said the presentCoalition Government is fullycommitted for the development ofall the regions and sub-regions ofthe State and focus is being laid oncreation of productive assets.
Deputy Chief Minister wasspeaking during the meeting con-vened to review the functioning ofMunicipal Committees of districtRajouri.
Minister for Animal, SheepHusbandry and Fisheries, AbdulGhani Kohli, Vice-Chairman StateAdvisory Board for Developmentof Pahari Speaking People,Kuldeep Raj Gupta, MLA RajouriChoudhary Qamar Hussain, MLCSurinder Choudhary,Commissioner Secretary Housingand Urban Development HirdeshKumar, Deputy CommissionerShabir Ahmed Bhat, SSP SalmanChoudhary, Director Urban LocalBodies Jammu Soujanya Sharmabesides other officers were presentin the meeting.
While reviewing the function-ing of Municipal Committees ofRajouri, Nowshera, Sunderbani,Thanamandi and Kalakote, theDeputy Chief Minister discussedvarious issues pertaining to estab-lishment of solid waste manage-ment plant, construction of sanitarycomplexes, creation of parkinglots, extension of town halls, cre-ation of revenue generating assets,identification of land for modern-ized slaughter house, installation ofstreet lights, dust bins and identifi-cation of garbage collection points.
During the meeting, Dr Singhwas apprised about the work doneand the assets created by the UrbanLocal Bodies along with the statusof men and machinery involved insanitation works of the towns.
Legislators put forth variousdemands in the meeting pertainingto the development of their respec-tive areas.
Dr Singh directed DeputyCommissioner to speed up theprocess of identification of land forconstruction of a common solidwaste management plant for bothRajouri and Thanamandi munici-pality. He further asked him toidentify a suitable land for the con-struction of parking area forRajouri town.
The Deputy Chief Ministerannounced Rs 25 lakh and Rs 10lakh for the construction of thelanes and drains in Thanamandiand Kalakote municipality respec-tively.
He directed the officers to workwith positive approach to makethese bodies vibrant and self-reliant. He asked them to finish the
projects in fixed timeline to avoidcost escalation.
Meanwhile, Deputy ChiefMinister reviewed the progress ofdevelopment projects in Poonchdistrict and stressed the need forjudicious use of funds and humanresource to ensure better deliveryof services.
The Deputy Chief Ministerasked the district administrationto reach out to the people andfocus on development and goodgovernance and be sensitiveand responsive at all levels
towards public needs as well asaccomplishing the worksentrusted.
Earlier Deputy CommissionerPoonch gave a resume of the finan-cial and physical achievementsof the Department of UrbanLocal Bodies.
While projecting theirdemands the local legislators saidthat Poonch town has its own his-torical importance and becauseof negligent attitude of the succes-sive regimes many historicalbuildings like Poonch Fort,Town Hall, Sheesh Mahal, Moti
Mahal have lost their glory. The legislators also brought it
into the notice of Dy ChiefMinister that major projects fordeveloping Poonch municipalityare still unapproved from theCentral Government. Theyrequested for early sanctioning ofthese projects.
They also informed the chairthat embankment of Poonch townis urgently required to save it fromfloods.
Responding to the demandsprojected in the meeting, theDeputy Chief Minister said thatPoonch is the face of Pir Panchaland it acts as a nerve centre. Hesaid a road map would be chalkedout to address the developmentaland other issues of the area.
The Deputy Chief Ministersaid that the Central Government isliberal in providing funds formaking J&K a model state inrespect of creating infrastructurefor roads , bridges, school build-ings, health centers, drinkingwater supply.
He further said that to revivethe glory of important monu-ments in Poonch, he would takeup the matter with Union CultureMinistry and the StateGovernment.
SIT conducting probe into poaching of blue sheep: DC
Excelsior Correspondent
LEH, Dec 22: DeputyCommissioner PrasannaRamaswamy and SSP UdhayBhaskar Billa today said thatSpecial InvestigationTeam (SIT) has beenconstituted to conductprobe into poaching ofblue-sheep and accusedperson(s) will not bespared.
Addressing a jointpress conference here,they said, “there is noquestion of soft-pad-dling on the sensitiveissue and investigationis being conducted by aSIT headed by DySPDAR Tashi Phuntsog”.
“Whosoever isfound guilty will be punishedand SIT has been directed tocomplete the task as early aspossible”, they said, adding “theauthorities will not succumb toany pressure from anybody”.
About suicide by a 52-yearold person, who was believed tobe the eye-witness of the poach-ing incident, SSP said, “there isno evidence as of now to suggestthat he was a witness to thepoaching incident”, adding “we
have initiated inquest proceed-ings into this suspicious death”.
Responding to a question,they confirmed that death ofblue sheep was due to bulletwhich, however, could not be
recovered.It is pertinent to mention
here that the poaching of a bluesheep came to the light in theGya-Meru area on December 11and over the past 10 days it hastaken different twists and turns.The organizations like LadakhBuddhist Association (LBA) andConservation of Wildlife andBirds Clubs Leh have demandedthat culprits be brought to bookas early as possible.
SGPB, DGPC to organize ‘Nagar Kirtan’ on Dec 24Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 22: StateGurdwara Parbandhak Board(SGPB), District GurdwaraParbandhak Committee (DGPC)Jammu and various Sikh bodieshave appealed to the SikhSangat to participate in largenumber in Nagar Kirtan from RS Pura to Jammu (GandhinagarGurdwara) on December 24 andanother religious programme onDecember 25 at Gurdwara SinghSabha, Rani Talab, Digiana.
Addressing a joint pressconference, T S Wazir chairmanof the SGPB and Jagjit Singhpresident DGPC Jammuexpressed satisfaction over thegrand Nagar Kirtan programmefrom Rajouri to Gurdwara TaliSahib, Talab Tillo, Jammu con-ducted recently. They said simi-lar grand Nagar Kirtan is beingorganised from RS Pura onDecember 24 and after passingthrough Kotli, Kullain, SimbalMorh, Airport Road andSatwari, it will culminate atGurdwara Baba Fateh Singh Ji,Gandhinagar, Jammu.
Both the Sikh leaders andgeneral secretary Avtar SinghKhalsa appealed the SikhSangat to participate in largenumber in the Nagar Kirtan pro-gramme and also receive theNagar Kirtan enroute. They saidthat Nagar Kirtan shall startfrom Central Gurdwara, MainBazaar R S Pura at 10 am. Thepeople from Suchetgarh,Bishnah, RS Pura and otheradjoining areas should partici-pate in large number.
After arrival at GurdwaraBaba Fateh Singh, Gandhinagar,a religious programme(Samagam) will be held there.They further appealed to theSangat to attend `Kavi Darbar'programme at Gurdwara GuruSingh Sabha Rani TalabDigiana, Jammu the next day (Dec 25) from 6 pm to 10 pm.Poets from J&K , Punjab andother states will participate inthis programme.
Harjinder Singh Raina,Surinder Singh, Kuldeep Singhand Manmohan Singh alsospoke on the occasion.
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 22: VigilanceOrganization Jammu (VOJ) con-ducted raid in the house of alady Patwari and booked her forpossessing assets much higherthan her known legal sources ofincome.
As per official spokesman,Vigilance Organization, Jammuregistered a case against PatwariShama Parveen, wife ofShowkat Ali of Masjid Mohalla,Channi Rama for raising hugeassets during her service whichare disproportionate to herknown sources of income.
The verification conductedin the matter revealed that thePatwari, posted in JDA had pur-chased 1 kanal land in khasraNo. 57 (old 417) at ChanniRama on March 24, 2014 andthe said plot was mutated in hername vide mutation No. 4794,he added.
The spokesman stated thatthe verification further revealedthat the suspect had also pur-chased 1 kanal more land asBenami property in the name ofAkhter Hussain, her brother-in-law, which is adjacent to above
said plot and covered both theplots with common boundarywall.
The suspect has been foundconstructed palatial house on the2 kanals plot during the year2014, valuing about 1.10 crore,he said, adding that the Patwarialso owns jewellery and othercostly electronic items.
During the verification com-parative analysis of income ofthe suspect from all sources,expenditure incurred and assetsraised by her revealed that assetsowned by the said Patwari aremuch higher than her knownlegal sources of income andraised huge assets during herservice which are disproportion-ate to her known sources ofincome, the spokesman added.
A case under Section 5 (1)(e) r/w 5 (2) PC Act 2006 wasregistered in police station VOJagainst the Patwari.
After obtaining search war-rants from the Court of SpecialJudge Anti-Corruption Jammu, ateam of Vigilance officers con-ducted the search of the accusedhouse in presence of independ-ent witnesses which was stillgoing on.
Forest Dept fails to appointConservator for North Kashmir
Suhail Bhat
SRINAGAR, Dec 22: Aftertransferring Conservator follow-ing expose of large-scale cutting oftrees, Forest Department has failedto appoint new Conservator in vul-nerable North Kashmir, leavingground clear for smugglers.
Sources said non-availabilityof Forest Conservator has ren-dered a vast area of about 2150square kilometers spread overKupwara and Baramulla vulnera-ble to timber smuggling. Thelocals expressed concern over thislackadaisical approach of theDepartment and alleged that byleaving the post vacant they aregiving a free hand to timber smug-glers.
“When the post of the officerwho has the powers to stop themerciless cutting of trees is vacantwho will be held accountable forany misconduct? The officials donot care about the green gold.They only mint money,” they said.
Ishfaq Ahmad, a sawmillowner while narrating his plight,said that the renewal date of hislicense was due this month butwithout the approval of
Conservator he is unable to renewit. “Without renewal of license mywork is technically illegal. I do notwant anyone to term my legalwork illegal. I have no option butto operate illegally as the ForestDepartment feels our area leastimportant,” he said.
Last month, locals living nearcompartment Number 29, 40 and44 had complained that timbersmugglers cut nearly five hundredtrees at Kiter Dagi and Mong Dagiforest ranges of Rafiabad woods.Accordingly, police launchedmajor search operation against theillegal felling and seized 54 logs oftimber and found nearly 200chopped trees besides registering acase.
Subsequently, the ForestDepartment transferred the ForestConservator but even after amonth has passed the post stillremains vacant.
When contacted, Minister ofState for Forest, Zahoor AhmadMir told Excelsior, said: “This isreally an issue of concern. I willsee why such a vast and smug-gling-prone area is functioningwithout a Conservator,” he added.
BBIA delegation discusses issues withCommissioner Secy PDD
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 22: A delega-tion of Bari Brahman IndustriesAssociation under the chairman-ship of Lalit Mahajan, President,BBIA along with Ajay Langer,general secretary, Viraaj Malhotrasecretary/treasurer interacted withDheeraj Gupta,Commissioner/Secretary PDD todiscuss the issues related toIndustrial Sector.
During the Course of discus-sions, Mahajan raised the seriousconcern in respect of denial ofPrice/Purchase Preference to localSSI Units by the PDD Departmentresulting great resentment amongthe Unit holders. He said recentlythe PDD Department floated sometenders & the Local SSI Unitsengaged in the manufacturing ofTransformers quoted their rates &their rates are 7% above the land-ed cost of the Outside Supplierwhich is well within the provisionof the Industrial Policy 2016 forplacing orders in favour of thelocal SSI Units but the Departmentis violating the Industrial Policy2016 by not placing the orders onthe local which shows theNegative attitude of theDepartments for the Growth ofSSI Sector of our State. Further thematter is more complicated by theDepartment on the issue ofLanded Cost which we termed asharassment to the local SSI Unitsas the landed cost always calculat-
ed on the basis of destination forthe supply of goods by the outsidesuppliers while calculating pricecomparison with local SSI Units,he added.
He said as per the IndustrialPolicy 2016 Point No-2.16.2 bythe virtue of which it is mandatoryfor all the Govt. Departments topurchase the material from theLocal SSI Units with a price pref-erence up to 15% on the landedcost of the outside suppliers forall the Govt. purchases but thedepartment is not adhering theGovt. order for the reason bestknown to the concerned officialsof PDD.
The other issues discussed dur-ing the meeting was restoration of24X7 Power Supply to IndustrialSector, release of Pending Powerconnections of Industrial Sector,Non Commissioning of BB III33KV Line, Non availability ofSpares and Consumables atReceiving Stations, Ease of DoingBusiness Concept to be adoptedby the Power DevelopmentDepartment with the delegation ofPowers for the sanction of PowerLoad, implementation of decisiontaken in respect of simple Interestchargeable on the outstanding pay-ments of Power Bills.
Dheeraj Gupta,Commissioner/Secretary listen allthe issues raised by BBIA &assured the delegation to resolvethe issues on the priority basis.
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh addressing the valedictorysession of Regional Conference on Administrative Reforms organ-ized by the Union Ministry of Personnel, at Jaipur on Thursday.
Chairman SGPB TS Wazir addressing press conference inJammu on Thursday. -Excelsior/ Rakesh
DC Leh Prasanna Ramaswamy andSSP Leh Uday Bhaskar Billa at a pressconference in Leh on Thursday.
-Excelsior/Stanzin
National Conference Provincial President Devender SinghRana addressing public gathering at Mendhar on Thursday.
NC castigates PDP-BJP coalitionfor failure on all fronts
* Seeks Indo-Pak dialogue to end hostilities on bordersExcelsior Correspondent
MENDHAR, Dec 22: Amidtotal shut-down in Mendhartownship along Line of Controlagainst abject failure of PDP-BJPGovernment on all fronts,National Conference today saidthe people were finding them-selves at the cross roads of histo-ry with lack of direction and willto govern compounding the per-ception of political uncertainty inJammu and Kashmir.
Addressing huge rally at theborder town this afternoon,National Conference ProvincialPresident Devender Singh Ranaand MLA Javed Rana said thatthe hope of inclusive develop-ment and political reconciliationhas been taken over by despair, asthe unholy PDP-BJP alliance hasfailed to satiate the urges andaspirations of people.
Devender Singh Rana said theslogans of change and 'Ache Din'have proven hoax and the coali-tion partners have reneged onevery single statement and prom-ise they made during elections,which they fought as per clandes-tine understanding.
"Having bitterly campaignedagainst each other by exploitingregional and religious sentiments,the PDP and BJP ultimately sur-rendered their much trumpetedstands just for petty trappings ofpolitical power. "They foughtelections like a fixed match andare continuing to play to the gal-leries by whipping up passions asper a well chalked out strategy",he said, adding that this duplicityand insincerity has brought theState to morass. He
Referring to traumatic situa-tion being faced by borderdwellers due to intermittentceasefire violations and skirmish-es, the Provincial President saidthe alarming security scenariocalls for thaw between Indo-Pakrelations. "If ceasefire agreementarrived during the tenure of AtalBehari Vajpayee could work forover a decade why can't a similar
initiative be taken to end hostili-ties and pave way for peace", heasked, saying the two neighbour-ing countries have no option butto talk, notwithstanding jingoisticposturing by the two sides.
Rana expressed concern overconcerted attempts of the coali-tion partners to polarise situationin order to hide their failures ongovernance front. While develop-ment has been pushed to backburners, grievances of the peopleon account of scare rations, errat-ic power and drinking water sup-ply and availability of minimumbasics have added to their woes,he added.
Speaking on the occa-sion, senior leader and MLAJaved Rana said the total shut-down in the town is a wake-upcall for the insensitive and irre-sponsible PDP-BJP Government,which has neglected the entire PirPanchal region in a systematicmanner. "Though developmentdeficit is a state-wide phenome-non yet the twin district ofPoonch and Rajouri were suffer-ing from Governmental attentionon all fronts", he said and termedthe Mendhar Bandh as referen-dum against the coalition govern-ment.
Javed Rana highlightedsector-wise deficiencies accruedand accumulated during the pastover 20 months and said the sem-blance of the Government is notseen anywhere on ground. "Dueto lack of political direction, theadministration too is finding itselfclueless with regard to respond-ing to the needs of the people", hesaid and warned that publicpatience should not be tested any-more.
He also highlight-ed local problems and held out anultimatum to the coalition gov-ernment for redressing these lestthe people will be forced to taketo streets.
VOJ books lady Patwarifor possessing huge assets
Illegal construction of shopping complex on State landSVC orders regular enquiry, asks DC Udh to
submit action taken report by Jan 27Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 22: Whileexamining the enquiry reportsubmitted in a complaint againstAssistant Commissioner,Udhampur, the State VigilanceCommission (SVC) has directedDeputy Commissioner,Udhampur to conduct a regularenquiry in the matter and takenecessary administrative actionagainst those public servantsinvolved in allowing illegal con-struction of shopping complexon State land at Birwan Bridge inUdhampur.
He has also been asked tosubmit action taken report to theCommission by or beforeJanuary 27.
Earlier, the Commission, tak-ing cognizance of the complaintof S Kumar against AssistantCommissioner Udhampur, hadasked District Vigilance Officer(Additional DC, Udhampur) toconduct inquiry in the matter andsubmit factual position of thecase to the Commission.
The complainant, in his com-plaint, has alleged that AssistantCommissioner Udhampur hasunauthorisedly deductingamount from the compensation
payable to the persons whoseland/structures have beenacquired by PMGSYDepartment, through one of hissubordinates Saddar Qanungo.
The complaint has alsoalleged that the officer hasallowed M/s SinghConstructions to construct ashopping complex, against aconsideration, on State land atBirwan Bridge and has changedthe title of the land on which theshopping complex has beenraised. Further the constructionis also in violation of RibbonDevelopment Act.
The report submitted byDeputy Commissioner primafacie established that officials ofthe departments having role tostop the illegal construction hadnot acted timely and allowed toM/s Singh Constructions to raisethe shopping complex in viola-tion of set norms and procedures.
Observing the possibility ofinvolvement of corruption in theentire deal, the SVC orderedDeputy Commissioner to hold aregular inquiry in the matter sothat officials and others involvedin this illegal act are identifiedfor follow up legal action takenagainst the guilty.
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