Friday, 1 May 2015

Mufti’s lavish social dinners at cost of flood victims sad: NC

KL Report

SRINAGAR

National Conference(NC) on Friday ridiculed J&K Chief Minister’s “senseless and insensitive lavish trips to Delhi and Mumbai at one pretext or the other and said this behavior by Mufti Sayeed was tragic at a time when thousands of flood victims continued to be deprived of compensation and rehabilitation – something PDP had both promised ahead of the elections and also floated as a justification for entering into an alliance with the BJP.”

NC Spokesman in a statement said, “Mufti Sahab was disconnected from the ground realities of a Kashmir that had been devastated by the natural calamity in September and was rather busy in taking his entourage for lavish, social outings in Delhi and Mumbai.

“Bollywood is already shooting in the Valley. Numerous Bollywood movies have been shot in Kashmir  in the last six years. Shahrukh Khan was here in 2014 to shoot for Jab Tak Hai Jaan. Salman Khan just returned from Kashmir after shooting in Pahalgam. Mufti Sahab under the guise of promoting tourism is preaching to the choir. If Mufti Sahab wants to splurge the devastated tax-payers’ money for his social outings in Mumbai, he should have the courage to say so. If the CM had an iota of sympathy for the Tourism players or the flood victims – he would not have trivialized the 44,000 crore flood relief package that had a component of helping our Tourism players to rebuild and cope with the losses”, the NC Spokesman said.

The NC Spokesman said that J&K Government and its Finance Minister stood completely exposed, their self-indulgent rhetoric being debunked by the fact that the BJP Government in New Delhi had chosen to throw alms at the State in the form of a few hundred crores as flood relief package. “Dr. Drabu incidentally questions the intelligence of all and sundry when questions are raised about the absurdity and contemptuous snub of the flood relief package being a mere 1,500 crores instead of the 44,000 crores proposed by the Omar Abdullah Government. Well, if the Flood Relief Package that BJP has promised PDP and Dr. Drabu according to Dr. Drabu is in fact much more, where is it? When will the flood victims get it? It has already been more than six months since the devastating floods when PDP foisted an election on a shattered Valley with the excuse of the new Government working for the flood victims. Where is the relief? This is not only a failure to stick to your promises but the shamelessness that follows such tragic failures”, NC Spokesman Junaid Mattu said.

“Now rather than focusing on rebuilding the Public Infrastructure and also facilitating rebuilding of the Private Infrastructure – including Private Tourism Infrastructure, Mufti Sahab is spending precious tax-payers money for his lavish dinners in 5-star hotels in Delhi and Mumbai. On one hand the Chief Minister takes his drama brigade to the Press Enclave and says the State is completely broke and penniless but on the other hand he splurges the tax-payers money for his redundant adventures in Mumbai. The PDP Government and the Chief Minister seem to be hell bent to insult the flood victims”, the NC Spokesman further stated.

The NC Spokesman said the Mufti Government had turned a blind eye towards the condition of our roads – even those connecting Srinagar to major tourist destinations like Pahalgam and Gulmarg. “Mufti Sahab wants to promote tourism in Mumbai in a select gathering of elites without being concerned about the fact that the road to Pahalgam from Srinagar for instance is almost un-motorable. Most of the roads in the Valley are in shambles and despite the weather having improved, the State Government is least concerned to address this problem. Numerous hotels could not re-open after the floods and suffered enormous losses. These entrepreneurs and businessmen expected the Government to fight for a flood relief package but unfortunately Mufti Sahab has surrendered his voice at the Durbaar in New Delhi in exchange of becoming the Chief Minister for six years”, Mattu added.



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SKIMS-Hospital or Security Camp?

KL Report

SRINAGAR

Attendants in Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Soura staged a protest after a security guard physically assaulted a woman visitor, who had gone there to see her relative.

Bisma Akhtar, a resident of Downtown Srinagar told CNS that she was shocked when an unruly and uncivilized security guard posted at ward number 2 physically assaulted her. “The arrogant security guard restricted me from entering into he ward, when i sought the reasons, he touched me and assaulted me physically and I can’t tell you what that mannerless security guard did to me,” she said.

The unwarranted action of the security guard forced attendants to register a protest and according to eyewitnesses, scores of attendants gathered inside the corridors of the hospital and demanded stern action against the erring security guard.

“In no way SKIMS looks like a hospital. It looks like a police station where security guards miss no opportunity to harass the visitors. These mannerless secuirty gaurds not only resort to foul language but also whirl their lathi’s and assault the visitors,” the protesting attendants said.

Another attendant said that it has become a routine matter for these unbriddled security guards to tease, harass and assualt the naive visitors who throng to the hospital from far flung areas to see their ailing patients. “We do not visit the hospital to kill the time but to see our loved ones who battle for their lives here. These security guards who have created a mess here should be taken to task for misbehaving with visitors,” the protesters said.

Pertinently, this is not the first incident of this sort that has occurred in SKIMS. From two months, visitors to the hospital have been continuously leveling allegations against hospital security men. Last month the hospital security beat a visitor to pulp and just after two days, security men again thrashed a visitor amid full public glare. These security men according to eyewitnesses frequently resort to abusive language while the administration despite aware of the fact is acting as mute spectators for the reasons better known to it.



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Labour Day Special: Govt Says Rs 32 Cr Spent On Labour Welfare In Nine Months

KL Report

SRINAGAR

labour Day

Hundreds of labourers protested in Srinagar on eve of World Labour Day. Pic: Bilal Bahadur

J&K has 280622 registered labourers with Poonch topping the list with 30,000 labourers. In the 22 district ranking, Kargil falls at the bottom with the lowest number of registered labourers – 6329.

Baramulla is the second labour-abundant district with 29092 registered labourers as neighbouring Kupwara falls at third number with 25300.

Twin capital cities Srinagar and Jammu have registered labour force of 18424 and 15000. The least labour registrations are from Samba (6500), Kathua (6704), Ramban (7494), Reasi (6952), Leh (7183) and Ganderbal (7222).

Informed sources told Kashmir Life that labour department is extending certain benefits to the registered labour class. Under the welfare systems in vogue, the government has extended scholarships worth Rs 14.29 crore to the wards of the labourers in the first nine months of the last fiscal ending December 2014.

Besides, the families whose registered labourers have died have got an assistance of Rs 20.07 crore in this period, Rs 46.16 lakh has been given as help to fight chronic diseases. Across the 22 districts Rs 15.97 crore has gone as marriage assistance to the families of registered labourers to marry their wards, the information suggested.

Analysis of the data suggests there are visible disparities in certain areas. Poonch, for instance got only Rs 8.10 lakh as scholarship unlike neighbouring Rajouri that got Rs 1.99 crore despite the fact that Poonch has three times registered labour force than Poonch. For marriage assistance Poonch got more than double the money (Rs 3.33 crore) if compared to Baramull and Kupwara. In fact Shopian got (Rs 2.31 crore) more than Kupwara (Rs 1.53 crore) despite the fact that Shopian has only 8000 registered labourers.

With the dispensation in place, it is high time that more welfare schemes are introduced for the labour class and discrimination in the existing ones is done away with.



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Mufti Meets Maharashtra CM, Requests Setting up JK House in Mumbai 

KL Report

SRINAGAR

Mufti interacting with Maharashtra CN Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai

Mufti interacting with Maharashtra CN Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai

Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Friday met the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis discussed issues of mutual interest between the two states.

Mufti requested Maharashtra Chief Minister for establishing a JK House at Vashi Township, at Navi Mumbai, for facilitating people from J&K, especially cancer patients who come for advance treatment, as well as students and professionals.

He said the State Government has completed all the formalities for construction of JK House at Navi Mumbai.

Fadnavis assured Mufti Sayeed that he will prioritize the request so that the land is allotted for the proposed J&K House.

Later, Mufti Sayeed met noted industrialist Keshub Mahindra, Chairman Emeritus, Mahindra & Mahindra Group.

During their meeting, the Chief Minister discussed various issues, especially relating to investment in J&K’s industrial sector.

Fadnavis also congratulated Mufti Sayeed for taking over as Chief Minister of J&K and wished him success.



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Roll out Cameras, Renew Your Romance With Kashmir: Mufti to Bollywood

KL Report

SRINAGAR

Mufti with Bollywood filmmakers and actors.

Mufti with Bollywood filmmakers and actors.

Extending warm invitation to the doyens and bigwigs of the Mumbai film industry to the captivating charms of the State’s scenic beauty and hospitality, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Friday urged the country’s premier film fraternity to roll out their cameras again and renew their romance with the ‘Paradise on Earth’.

He said J&K’s greatest tourism marketing will be through the Bollywood film industry, which will find the State the most ideal location for shooting its films.

Mufti Sayeed, who also holds the charge of Tourism Department, was speaking over a dinner thrown for a galaxy of leading film stars, producers and directors, here Thursday night.

All major movies through the Sixties till late Eighties where shot in Kashmir, which enjoyed the numero uno position in the country’s tourism sector.

Some of the biggest names of Bollywood film industry including Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Imtiaz Ali, Sudhir Mishra, Ramesh Sippy, Anupam Kher, Madhur Bhandarkar, Rishi Kapoor, Pooja Bhat, Boney Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Kunal Khemu, Soha Ali Khan, Gulshan Grover, Sanjay Suri, Gul Panag, besides several others attended the dinner.

Asking the big production houses of the film industry to come back and experience the beauty of J&K again, the Chief Minister said anyone who visualizes an idea, the State has a location to offer. “People want to see the real beauty of Kashmir through your cameras. You become brand ambassadors of our tourism sector, which remains the backbone of our economy,” he said.

Urging Bollywood to put J&K in its itinerary, Mufti Sayeed offered all support to the industry in facilitating their shooting plans in the State.

The Chief Minister had met Dalip Kumar and Shahrukh Khan yesterday.

Speaking on the occasion, many stars and filmmakers including Rishi Kapoor, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Irrfan Khan and Anupam Kher, shared their past experiences and future plans of making films in Kashmir. They assured the Chief Minister of Bollywood’s full support in reviving ties with J&K.



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Geelani in His Tral Address, ‘Amarnath Yatra Shouldn’t Exceed 30 Days’

KL Report

SRINAGAR

Hurriyat (G) chairman Syed Ali Geelani in his Tral address Friday said the annual Amarnath Yatra should not exceed 30 days.

Addressing a crowded gathering at Tral where he reached to offer condolences with the family of slain Khalid Muzaffar Wani, Geelani said: “The annual Amarnath Yatra should be conducted minimum 15 days and maximum a month and not beyond that.”

When this report was filed, Geelani was still addressing a massive public gathering.



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Geelani in Tral

KL Report

SRINAGAR

Hurriyat (G) chairman Syed Ali Geelani Friday morning reached south Kashmir’s Tral where he is scheduled to address a public gathering after the Friday prayers.

Geelani is also expected to visit the family of Khalid Muzaffar Wani, a brother of Hizb commander killed in an army firing on April 13.

Notably, it is Geelani’s second condolence visit. Earlier he visited Narbal to condole the killing of a school boy, Suhail Sofi.



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