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DAILY EXCELSIOR, JAMMU FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2016 (PAGE 5) Dr Jitendra asks State Govts to strictly follow DoPT guidelines Excelsior Correspondent JAIPUR, Dec 22: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh has called upon the State Governments to strictly follow the DoPT and ARPG guidelines laid down by the union Ministry of Personnel because these are in the larger interest of good governance and for making the administration more citizen-centric and account- able. He also put the record straight as far as the postings of district heads are concerned and stated that the posts of District Development Commissioner / District Collector or Senior Superintendent of Police in-charge of district are essentially the cadre posts which are expected to be filled with officers from IAS or IPS cadre and not the provincial services. Dr Jitendra Singh was address- ing the valedictory session of the regional conference on “Innovation in Citizen Centric Delivery” here today. Pertinent to mention that this is one of the series of similar regional confer- ences started by the Ministry to carry the message of citizen- cen- tric governance to every nook and corner of the country. The last such conference was held in Jammu and prior to that, similar confer- ences have been held in other parts of the country, including Nagpur and Guwahati. The next such con- ference is scheduled to be held in the month of January at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Jitendra Singh lamented that some of the most path-breaking admin- istrative reforms brought in by the Modi government in the last two years are yet to be effectively implemented by certain State Governments. He particularly mentioned the revolutionary deci- sion to abolish interviews for selection to junior posts which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself and has since been implemented in all the Ministries of the Central Government. He urged upon the State Governments which are yet to adopt this reform to expedite it, because it is in the interest of pro- viding a level-playing field with equal opportunity to young job seekers from every segment of society regardless of their socio- economic background. At the same time, he also had a word of praise for some States including Rajasthan and Maharashtra which had not only promptly implement- ed this reform, but also come out with the statistics to show how the abolition of interviews had also tremendously saved the expendi- ture of State exchequer. Lauding the efforts of the offi- cers in the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the citizen-centric service delivery provision has been adopted by many States, but needs to be made more effective. In India of today, he said, where more than 65-70% population is below the age of 40 years, citizen- centric delivery essentially means youth-centric delivery keeping in focus the priorities and aspirations of the youth. Dr Jitendra Singh also compli- mented the Department of ARPG for having activated the grievance cell and noted that in the last one year, the grievance disposal has gone up to nearly 100%. He said, we follow a timeline and every weekend not only the number of grievances disposed is calculated, but he himself also personally calls up some of the complainants at random 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 Department of ARPG takes the responsibility of disposing off a grievance within a limited time-frame, but the dis- posal of the grievance does not mean that it would satisfy the aspi- ration of the complainant which may sometimes be subjective or unwarranted like, for example, if a complainant has a grievance that he was not given the promotion which was available to his peers, the responsibility of the ARPG Department is to obtain the facts from the concerned Ministry and convey back to him why the con- cerned Ministry did not find him fit for promotion, which, in other words, means that the complaint has been disposed off by the ARPG Department, but that does not mean that ARPG can also ensure a promotion for the com- plainant for which he rightly or wrongly feels entitled to, because that is an issue to be decided by the concerned Ministry or Department. However, he said, complaints relating to arrear dues, pension dues, delayed passports, etc. are being invariably addressed to the complete satisfaction of the complainants. Under the inspiration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Dr Jitendra Singh referred to another innovative idea introduced by Department of ARPG last year wherein every IAS officer, who has put in 30 to 35 years of service, is expected to go back to his very first posting as SDM or Collector and write an account of it. This not only enables the officer an oppor- tunity to go back to the origins of his service career, but also to have an assessment of how far the area has progressed in the last three decades during the period when he was progressing from higher-to- higher posts, he added. The conference was attended,among others, by Union Secretary ARPG C. Viswanath, Additional Secretary Usha Sharma and Joint Secretaries from ARPG, senior Secretaries and officers from different State Governments and scholars in thefield of public administration. Govt working for equitable development of all regions, sub-regions: DyCM Excelsior Correspondent RAJOURI, Dec 22: Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Nirmal Kumar Singh today said the present Coalition Government is fully committed for the development of all the regions and sub-regions of the State and focus is being laid on creation of productive assets. Deputy Chief Minister was speaking during the meeting con- vened to review the functioning of Municipal Committees of district Rajouri. Minister for Animal, Sheep Husbandry and Fisheries, Abdul Ghani Kohli, Vice-Chairman State Advisory Board for Development of Pahari Speaking People, Kuldeep Raj Gupta, MLA Rajouri Choudhary Qamar Hussain, MLC Surinder Choudhary, Commissioner Secretary Housing and Urban Development Hirdesh Kumar, Deputy Commissioner Shabir Ahmed Bhat, SSP Salman Choudhary, Director Urban Local Bodies Jammu Soujanya Sharma besides other officers were present in the meeting. While reviewing the function- ing of Municipal Committees of Rajouri, Nowshera, Sunderbani, Thanamandi and Kalakote, the Deputy Chief Minister discussed various issues pertaining to estab- lishment of solid waste manage- ment plant, construction of sanitary complexes, creation of parking lots, extension of town halls, cre- ation of revenue generating assets, identification of land for modern- ized slaughter house, installation of street lights, dust bins and identifi- cation of garbage collection points. During the meeting, Dr Singh was apprised about the work done and the assets created by the Urban Local Bodies along with the status of men and machinery involved in sanitation works of the towns. Legislators put forth various demands in the meeting pertaining to the development of their respec- tive areas. Dr Singh directed Deputy Commissioner to speed up the process of identification of land for construction of a common solid waste management plant for both Rajouri and Thanamandi munici- pality. He further asked him to identify a suitable land for the con- struction of parking area for Rajouri town. The Deputy Chief Minister announced Rs 25 lakh and Rs 10 lakh for the construction of the lanes and drains in Thanamandi and Kalakote municipality respec- tively. He directed the officers to work with positive approach to make these bodies vibrant and self- reliant. He asked them to finish the projects in fixed timeline to avoid cost escalation. Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister reviewed the progress of development projects in Poonch district and stressed the need for judicious use of funds and human resource to ensure better delivery of services. The Deputy Chief Minister asked the district administration to reach out to the people and focus on development and good governance and be sensitive and responsive at all levels towards public needs as well as accomplishing the works entrusted. Earlier Deputy Commissioner Poonch gave a resume of the finan- cial and physical achievements of the Department of Urban Local Bodies. While projecting their demands the local legislators said that Poonch town has its own his- torical importance and because of negligent attitude of the succes- sive regimes many historical buildings like Poonch Fort, Town Hall, Sheesh Mahal, Moti Mahal have lost their glory. The legislators also brought it into the notice of Dy Chief Minister that major projects for developing Poonch municipality are still unapproved from the Central Government. They requested for early sanctioning of these projects. They also informed the chair that embankment of Poonch town is urgently required to save it from floods. Responding to the demands projected in the meeting, the Deputy Chief Minister said that Poonch is the face of Pir Panchal and it acts as a nerve centre. He said a road map would be chalked out to address the developmental and other issues of the area. The Deputy Chief Minister said that the Central Government is liberal in providing funds for making J&K a model state in respect of creating infrastructure for roads , bridges, school build- ings, health centers, drinking water supply. He further said that to revive the glory of important monu- ments in Poonch, he would take up the matter with Union Culture Ministry and the State Government. SIT conducting probe into poaching of blue sheep: DC Excelsior Correspondent LEH, Dec 22: Deputy Commissioner Prasanna Ramaswamy and SSP Udhay Bhaskar Billa today said that Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted to conduct probe into poaching of blue-sheep and accused person(s) will not be spared. Addressing a joint press conference here, they said, “there is no question of soft-pad- dling on the sensitive issue and investigation is being conducted by a SIT headed by DySP DAR Tashi Phuntsog”. “Whosoever is found guilty will be punished and SIT has been directed to complete the task as early as possible”, they said, adding “the authorities will not succumb to any pressure from anybody”. About suicide by a 52-year old person, who was believed to be the eye-witness of the poach- ing incident, SSP said, “there is no evidence as of now to suggest that he was a witness to the poaching incident”, adding “we have initiated inquest proceed- ings into this suspicious death”. Responding to a question, they confirmed that death of blue sheep was due to bullet which, however, could not be recovered. It is pertinent to mention here that the poaching of a blue sheep came to the light in the Gya-Meru area on December 11 and over the past 10 days it has taken different twists and turns. The organizations like Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA) and Conservation of Wildlife and Birds Clubs Leh have demanded that culprits be brought to book as early as possible. SGPB, DGPC to organize ‘Nagar Kirtan’ on Dec 24 Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 22: State Gurdwara Parbandhak Board (SGPB), District Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (DGPC) Jammu and various Sikh bodies have appealed to the Sikh Sangat to participate in large number in Nagar Kirtan from R S Pura to Jammu (Gandhinagar Gurdwara) on December 24 and another religious programme on December 25 at Gurdwara Singh Sabha, Rani Talab, Digiana. Addressing a joint press conference, T S Wazir chairman of the SGPB and Jagjit Singh president DGPC Jammu expressed satisfaction over the grand Nagar Kirtan programme from Rajouri to Gurdwara Tali Sahib, Talab Tillo, Jammu con- ducted recently. They said simi- lar grand Nagar Kirtan is being organised from RS Pura on December 24 and after passing through Kotli, Kullain, Simbal Morh, Airport Road and Satwari, it will culminate at Gurdwara Baba Fateh Singh Ji, Gandhinagar, Jammu. Both the Sikh leaders and general secretary Avtar Singh Khalsa appealed the Sikh Sangat to participate in large number in the Nagar Kirtan pro- gramme and also receive the Nagar Kirtan enroute. They said that Nagar Kirtan shall start from Central Gurdwara, Main Bazaar R S Pura at 10 am. The people from Suchetgarh, Bishnah, RS Pura and other adjoining areas should partici- pate in large number. After arrival at Gurdwara Baba Fateh Singh, Gandhinagar, a religious programme (Samagam) will be held there. They further appealed to the Sangat to attend `Kavi Darbar' programme at Gurdwara Guru Singh Sabha Rani Talab Digiana, Jammu the next day ( Dec 25) from 6 pm to 10 pm. Poets from J&K , Punjab and other states will participate in this programme. Harjinder Singh Raina, Surinder Singh, Kuldeep Singh and Manmohan Singh also spoke on the occasion. Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 22: Vigilance Organization Jammu (VOJ) con- ducted raid in the house of a lady Patwari and booked her for possessing assets much higher than her known legal sources of income. As per official spokesman, Vigilance Organization, Jammu registered a case against Patwari Shama Parveen, wife of Showkat Ali of Masjid Mohalla, Channi Rama for raising huge assets during her service which are disproportionate to her known sources of income. The verification conducted in the matter revealed that the Patwari, posted in JDA had pur- chased 1 kanal land in khasra No. 57 (old 417) at Channi Rama on March 24, 2014 and the said plot was mutated in her name vide mutation No. 4794, he added. The spokesman stated that the verification further revealed that the suspect had also pur- chased 1 kanal more land as Benami property in the name of Akhter Hussain, her brother-in- law, which is adjacent to above said plot and covered both the plots with common boundary wall. The suspect has been found constructed palatial house on the 2 kanals plot during the year 2014, valuing about 1.10 crore, he said, adding that the Patwari also owns jewellery and other costly electronic items. During the verification com- parative analysis of income of the suspect from all sources, expenditure incurred and assets raised by her revealed that assets owned by the said Patwari are much higher than her known legal sources of income and raised huge assets during her service which are disproportion- ate to her known sources of income, the spokesman added. A case under Section 5 (1) (e) r/w 5 (2) PC Act 2006 was registered in police station VOJ against the Patwari. After obtaining search war- rants from the Court of Special Judge Anti-Corruption Jammu, a team of Vigilance officers con- ducted the search of the accused house in presence of independ- ent witnesses which was still going on. Forest Dept fails to appoint Conservator for North Kashmir Suhail Bhat SRINAGAR, Dec 22: After transferring Conservator follow- ing expose of large-scale cutting of trees, Forest Department has failed to appoint new Conservator in vul- nerable North Kashmir, leaving ground clear for smugglers. Sources said non-availability of Forest Conservator has ren- dered a vast area of about 2150 square kilometers spread over Kupwara and Baramulla vulnera- ble to timber smuggling. The locals expressed concern over this lackadaisical approach of the Department and alleged that by leaving the post vacant they are giving a free hand to timber smug- glers. “When the post of the officer who has the powers to stop the merciless cutting of trees is vacant who will be held accountable for any misconduct? The officials do not care about the green gold. They only mint money,” they said. Ishfaq Ahmad, a sawmill owner while narrating his plight, said that the renewal date of his license was due this month but without the approval of Conservator he is unable to renew it. “Without renewal of license my work is technically illegal. I do not want anyone to term my legal work illegal. I have no option but to operate illegally as the Forest Department feels our area least important,” he said. Last month, locals living near compartment Number 29, 40 and 44 had complained that timber smugglers cut nearly five hundred trees at Kiter Dagi and Mong Dagi forest ranges of Rafiabad woods. Accordingly, police launched major search operation against the illegal felling and seized 54 logs of timber and found nearly 200 chopped trees besides registering a case. Subsequently, the Forest Department transferred the Forest Conservator but even after a month has passed the post still remains vacant. When contacted, Minister of State for Forest, Zahoor Ahmad Mir told Excelsior, said: “This is really an issue of concern. I will see why such a vast and smug- gling-prone area is functioning without a Conservator,” he added. BBIA delegation discusses issues with Commissioner Secy PDD Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 22: A delega- tion of Bari Brahman Industries Association under the chairman- ship of Lalit Mahajan, President, BBIA along with Ajay Langer, general secretary, Viraaj Malhotra secretary/treasurer interacted with Dheeraj Gupta, Commissioner/Secretary PDD to discuss the issues related to Industrial Sector. During the Course of discus- sions, Mahajan raised the serious concern in respect of denial of Price/Purchase Preference to local SSI Units by the PDD Department resulting great resentment among the Unit holders. He said recently the PDD Department floated some tenders & the Local SSI Units engaged in the manufacturing of Transformers quoted their rates & their rates are 7% above the land- ed cost of the Outside Supplier which is well within the provision of the Industrial Policy 2016 for placing orders in favour of the local SSI Units but the Department is violating the Industrial Policy 2016 by not placing the orders on the local which shows the Negative attitude of the Departments for the Growth of SSI Sector of our State. Further the matter is more complicated by the Department on the issue of Landed Cost which we termed as harassment to the local SSI Units as the landed cost always calculat- ed on the basis of destination for the supply of goods by the outside suppliers while calculating price comparison with local SSI Units, he added. He said as per the Industrial Policy 2016 Point No-2.16.2 by the virtue of which it is mandatory for all the Govt. Departments to purchase the material from the Local SSI Units with a price pref- erence up to 15% on the landed cost of the outside suppliers for all the Govt. purchases but the department is not adhering the Govt. order for the reason best known to the concerned officials of PDD. The other issues discussed dur- ing the meeting was restoration of 24X7 Power Supply to Industrial Sector, release of Pending Power connections of Industrial Sector, Non Commissioning of BB III 33KV Line, Non availability of Spares and Consumables at Receiving Stations, Ease of Doing Business Concept to be adopted by the Power Development Department with the delegation of Powers for the sanction of Power Load, implementation of decision taken in respect of simple Interest chargeable on the outstanding pay- ments of Power Bills. Dheeraj Gupta, Commissioner/Secretary listen all the issues raised by BBIA & assured the delegation to resolve the issues on the priority basis. Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh addressing the valedictory session 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 in Jammu on Thursday. -Excelsior/ Rakesh DC Leh Prasanna Ramaswamy and SSP Leh Uday Bhaskar Billa at a press conference in Leh on Thursday. -Excelsior/Stanzin National Conference Provincial President Devender Singh Rana addressing public gathering at Mendhar on Thursday. NC castigates PDP-BJP coalition for failure on all fronts * Seeks Indo-Pak dialogue to end hostilities on borders Excelsior Correspondent MENDHAR, Dec 22: Amid total shut-down in Mendhar township along Line of Control against abject failure of PDP-BJP Government on all fronts, National Conference today said the people were finding them- selves at the cross roads of histo- ry with lack of direction and will to govern compounding the per- ception of political uncertainty in Jammu and Kashmir. Addressing huge rally at the border town this afternoon, National Conference Provincial President Devender Singh Rana and MLA Javed Rana said that the hope of inclusive develop- ment and political reconciliation has been taken over by despair, as the unholy PDP-BJP alliance has failed to satiate the urges and aspirations of people. Devender Singh Rana said the slogans of change and 'Ache Din' have proven hoax and the coali- tion partners have reneged on every single statement and prom- ise they made during elections, which they fought as per clandes- tine understanding. "Having bitterly campaigned against each other by exploiting regional and religious sentiments, the PDP and BJP ultimately sur- rendered their much trumpeted stands just for petty trappings of political power. "They fought elections like a fixed match and are continuing to play to the gal- leries by whipping up passions as per a well chalked out strategy", he said, adding that this duplicity and insincerity has brought the State to morass. He Referring to traumatic situa- tion being faced by border dwellers due to intermittent ceasefire violations and skirmish- es, the Provincial President said the alarming security scenario calls for thaw between Indo-Pak relations. "If ceasefire agreement arrived during the tenure of Atal Behari Vajpayee could work for over a decade why can't a similar initiative be taken to end hostili- ties and pave way for peace", he asked, saying the two neighbour- ing countries have no option but to talk, notwithstanding jingoistic posturing by the two sides. Rana expressed concern over concerted attempts of the coali- tion partners to polarise situation in order to hide their failures on governance front. While develop- ment has been pushed to back burners, grievances of the people on account of scare rations, errat- ic power and drinking water sup- ply and availability of minimum basics have added to their woes, he added. Speaking on the occa- sion, senior leader and MLA Javed Rana said the total shut- down in the town is a wake-up call for the insensitive and irre- sponsible PDP-BJP Government, which has neglected the entire Pir Panchal region in a systematic manner. "Though development deficit is a state-wide phenome- non yet the twin district of Poonch and Rajouri were suffer- ing from Governmental attention on all fronts", he said and termed the Mendhar Bandh as referen- dum against the coalition govern- ment. Javed Rana highlighted sector-wise deficiencies accrued and accumulated during the past over 20 months and said the sem- blance of the Government is not seen anywhere on ground. "Due to lack of political direction, the administration too is finding itself clueless with regard to respond- ing to the needs of the people", he said and warned that public patience should not be tested any- more. He also highlight- ed local problems and held out an ultimatum to the coalition gov- ernment for redressing these lest the people will be forced to take to streets. VOJ books lady Patwari for possessing huge assets Illegal construction of shopping complex on S t ate land SVC orders regular enquiry, asks DC Udh to submit action taken report by Jan 27 Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 22: While examining the enquiry report submitted in a complaint against Assistant Commissioner, Udhampur, the State Vigilance Commission (SVC) has directed Deputy Commissioner, Udhampur to conduct a regular enquiry in the matter and take necessary administrative action against those public servants involved in allowing illegal con- struction of shopping complex on State land at Birwan Bridge in Udhampur. He has also been asked to submit action taken report to the Commission by or before January 27. Earlier, the Commission, tak- ing cognizance of the complaint of S Kumar against Assistant Commissioner Udhampur, had asked District Vigilance Officer (Additional DC, Udhampur) to conduct inquiry in the matter and submit factual position of the case to the Commission. The complainant, in his com- plaint, has alleged that Assistant Commissioner Udhampur has unauthorisedly deducting amount from the compensation payable to the persons whose land/structures have been acquired by PMGSY Department, through one of his subordinates Saddar Qanungo. The complaint has also alleged that the officer has allowed M/s Singh Constructions to construct a shopping complex, against a consideration, on State land at Birwan Bridge and has changed the title of the land on which the shopping complex has been raised. Further the construction is also in violation of Ribbon Development Act. The report submitted by Deputy Commissioner prima facie established that officials of the departments having role to stop the illegal construction had not acted timely and allowed to M/s Singh Constructions to raise the shopping complex in viola- tion of set norms and procedures. Observing the possibility of involvement of corruption in the entire deal, the SVC ordered Deputy Commissioner to hold a regular inquiry in the matter so that officials and others involved in this illegal act are identified for follow up legal action taken against the guilty. * Watch video on www.excelsiornews.com
