Jammu News

JAMMU : Lieutenant Governor Shri Manoj Sinha chaired a high-level meeting of Public Sector Banks, Administrative Departments & other Financial Institutions, today at Civil Secretariat.

The Lt Governor reviewed the action taken on the directions passed in the previous meeting on seamless credit to potential entrepreneurs and saturation of other government schemes aimed to facilitate the dreams of aspiring society.

The Lt Governor directed the Public Sector Banks and other financial institutions for dedicated measures to ensure government benefits directly reach the people and put greater emphasis on lending for potential entrepreneurs, farmers, SHGs and rural development.

“Banking sector is the backbone of J&K’s growing economy and collective efforts should be made to facilitate common man, farmers, industries, SHGs and young entrepreneurs. Banks need to cooperate & complement government’s efforts in reaching out to beneficiaries of all flagship schemes,” the Lt Governor said.

He also observed that during the Back to Village-4 and My Town My Pride Programme, J&K Bank ensured a major share of 90% in extending the financial support to 75,000 youth recently, while other banks had merely 10 % contribution.

“This situation needs to change. All the Banks must increase the lending to promote entrepreneurship amongst youth, women and people from marginalised sections of society,” the Lt Governor further said.

The Lt Governor also reviewed the progress achieved to extend the benefits of Kisan Credit Cards to all the eligible farmers.

The banks were instructed to follow the delivery channels of RBI and saturate the distribution of Smart Cards to the KCC account holders by June, 2023.

The Lt Governor emphasized on support and guidance to the farmers in preparing project reports required by the banks through nodal agencies. He also emphasized on holding regular meetings at the district level with mission youth & other government departments to understand requirements of diverse sectors, the Lt Governor added.

The Chair was also briefed on the upcoming ‘Citizen’s portal for Government Sponsored Schemes’. The soon to be launched portal, prepared by J&K Bank will ensure that all the Banks operating in Jammu Kashmir seamlessly extend all the benefits of government schemes to the eligible beneficiaries.

The portal will enable a citizen to apply for a Government Sponsored Schemes directly online with OTP Authentication and check the status of his/her application online.

It will forward/route the applications from citizens to appropriate departments & teams in an integrated workflow and enable departments & teams to process and forward/route these applications to the concerned financing agencies.

Further the financing agencies can update status for these applications post processing. It will also facilitate generation of MIS/Reporting Dashboards, it was informed.

Directions were passed to explore possibilities to integrate all the schemes and other portals on a single platform and make the portal more interactive, multilingual and having a module of grievances redressal mechanism.

Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary; Sh Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture Production Department; Sh Baldev Prakash, MD & CEO J&K Bank; Administrative Secretaries; HODs, Heads and representatives of several banks operating in the UT attended the meeting.

Rajouri : Two persons died while 12 others were injured after a minibus turned turtle at Kewal Turn in Rajouri district on Thursday morning.

An official told the news agency that a minibus turned turtle near Kewal Turn in the district, resulting in injuries to at least 14 persons.

Block Medical Officer Kandi, Dr Iqbal Malik said that 14 injured were received at Community Health Center Kandi, but two of them succumbed to injuries.

He said of 12 injured two have been referred to GMC Associated Hospital Rajouri.

Deceased have been identified as Shakil Ahmed of Kewal and Badar Hussain of Kandi—(KNO)

Srinagar : Aspirants for Prosecuting Officers on Thursday urged Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission to cancel both papers instead of the one and conduct fresh examination to provide “a level playing field” for all.

JKPSC on Wednesday cancelled “paper-II” which is of qualifying nature with further announcement that examination for it will be conducted on March 16. However, a number of aspirants called GNS since the announcement was made close-of-day Wednesday, alleging that cancelation of only paper-II will provide advantage to those aspirants who have scored better marks in paper-I and that decision “rides roughshod” over others.

“As per the scheme of examination, both the papers have importance of their own. The paper-I score will count only after one qualifies Paper-II,” the aspirants said, adding, “Had the JKPSC not cancelled the paper-II ab-initio, those who are having better score at present in paper-I would not make it to merit list and selection was to be made among those who qualified by having required numbers in paper-II.” Now that JKPSC has chosen to cancel only paper-II, it was providing undue advantage at the cost of others to some aspirants, they said.

“This is clear injustice and unfair with most aspirants,” they said, adding, “It smacks of arbitrariness or to put it in other words, it is irrational and offends the basic requirement of Article 14 of the Constitution.”

They said that with the announcement, the JKPSC was setting a “wrong precedent.”

“The examination scheme is such that an aspirant has to first qualify the paper-II by getting score as provided under the notification,” they said, adding, “By allowing somebody who has fared better in paper-I two chances is plainly injustice. Does someone who has fared better in paper-II and not so good in paper-I, also deserve two chances at paper-I?” This clearly, they said, was “unfair”.

As per the JKPSC, its decision to cancel paper-II followed representations from the candidates through the J&K High Court Bar Association Jammu and others, claiming that the standard of the qualifying paper was higher than the level prescribed in the notification.

“The JKPSC itself has admitted that representations received by it requested for re-conducting the examination, meaning both papers, or allowing the aspirants to appear in the main examination,” the aspirants said, adding, “The JKPSC has chosen to set a wrong precedent and we request the Commission to revisit its decision of only conducting examination for Paper-II, thereby allowing two chances to some aspirants and denying same opportunity to others.” (GNS)

DODA — As many as 118 militants of Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda are based in Pakistan and PoK, of whom 10 are most active and are attempting to spread militancy in the region by recruiting the youth, a top police officer said on Wednesday.

The police said the two militants have been declared as ‘Individual’ (those indulging in lone-wolf attacks) militants while two others as ‘Proclaimed Offenders’ (PO).

SSP Doda Abdul Qayoom said the police have also seized the properties of one of the POs and are preparing a dossier against those attempting to revive militancy in the district.

“118 militants of Doda are based in Pakistan and PoK at the moment, of whom 10 are most active. They try to involve the youth here in militancy. They are trying to spread militancy once again in Doda and the Jammu province. We have made the profile of 10 such militants who are most active. We have declared two individual militants and two as proclaimed offenders,” the SSP told ANI.

“We have seized the properties of one of them. We are collecting evidence against the rest. We are preparing the dossier against those, who are attempting to revive militancy in Doda. We are collecting the details of their properties and action will be taken against them when the time comes,” he added.

The officer informed further that the police were preparing to act against the ‘most active militants’ in the region.

He informed that the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has declared Abukh Habib, who is reportedly one of the most active militant in the region, as an ‘Individual militant’.

“Abukh Habib is one of the most active militants in the region. He had a hand in militancy incidents in the Jammu province, which included planning and executing IED and grenade blasts. He is attempting to revive militancy in the Doda district. The MHA has declared him as an ‘Individual militant’. Mohd Irshad is also active (in the region). He is a militant belonging to the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) and has been declared as an ‘Individual militant’. We are taking the details of his property from the revenue department and will act legally once we get the details,” Qayoom said.

On other militants trying to indoctrtinate and induct the youth into militancy, the officer said, “There is another militant named Nazeer, who is also involved in anti-national activities. He has also been trying to induct the youth into militancy. He belongs to the LeT. We also recently seized the property of another militant named Abdur Rashid, aka Jahangir.”

He informed that the police have acted against 11 people so far, under the UAPA, adding that they have been jailed.

“We have acted against 11 people under the UAPA and they are in jail. In what is a positive sign, whoever the militants reach out for indoctrination come to us and we arrange counselling for them. I appeal to the people not to believe in claims made by them. They try to motivate people by reaching out to them over phone. But the good thing is that all those who they contacted came to the police. We arrange counselling for them so that the militants don’t succeed in their plans,” he said. — (ANI)

Jammu: National Conference, People’s Democratic Party and CPI(M) on Wednesday staged separate protests here against the imposition of property tax and demanded immediate roll back of the decision.

Members of the National Conference (NC) led by their provincial president Rattan Lal Gupta took to the streets outside the party’s headquarters at Residency Road and raised slogans against the Jammu and Kashmir administration for imposing the tax.
Terming the implementation of the property tax in absence of an elected government in the Union Territory as “arbitrary and undemocratic”, he said the administration is taking decisions without consulting even the 30,000 elected public representatives of Jammu and Kashmir.
“The proxy BJP government has been thrusting only anti-people policies. Instead of giving some relief to the people in J&K where the unemployment rate is highest among the states and union territories across the nation. The property tax will put more burden on the people,” Gupta said.
Former minister and central zonal president of the NC, Babu Rampal, claimed that nearly 80 per cent of the population, residing in urban areas, will be directly affected by the tax.
“Today the people of Jammu and Kashmir are feeling betrayed by the abrogation of Article 370 as the situation has turned from bad to worse post abrogation. Every section of society stands adversely affected by the anti-people policies of the BJP government,” he said.
PDP activists held a demonstration at Purani Mandi in the city against the property tax and alleged failure of the BJP to provide security to minority community members in the Kashmir Valley where a Kashmiri Pandit was recently shot dead in Pulwama district.
“Imposition of property tax is to further weaken the people economically. We request the Lt Governor to revoke the order as the public is not in a position to pay property tax,” PDP spokesperson Varinder Singh Sonu said.

He said all sections of society, whether businessmen, farmers or a youngster looking for a job, are distressed due to the “wrong policies” of the administration.
Sonu also sought adequate compensation to the family of Kashmiri Pandit Sanjay Sharma who was shot dead by terrorists in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Sunday and said his killing exposed the government claims of normalcy.
CPI(M) activists led by senior leader Om Prakash took to the streets outside the Maharaja Hari Singh park in the city against imposition of property tax.
“The people are fed up with the implementation of black laws by the Lt Governor led administration to harass the public,” he said, adding the party will stage a protest outside Parliament next month if the property tax notification was not revoked.
Meanwhile, Apni party provincial president and former minister S Manjit Singh also criticised the government for imposing “unilateral decisions” regarding property tax despite massive resentment among the people.
“Government is working against the wishes of the people and imposing decisions without consultation with the elected representatives in urban local bodies and other sectors,” he said addressing party workers at Vijaypur in Samba district.

Systematic approach by State Taxes Dept to simplify the regulatory compliances has led to revenue augmentation & improved ease of doing business for the stakeholders. Such symposium & awareness drive will further stimulate the rate of compliance & productive capacity: LG

We are following Hon’ble PM’s mantra of Transform, Reform & Perform to build a prosperous & Atmanirbhar J&K: LG

It is collective responsibility of citizens & business enterprises to unlock potential & drive J&K’s economic growth, says the LG

The reforms & policies focus on protection and empowerment of the common man. Our long-term economic development policies are aimed at reducing inequalities for the welfare of society. Robust growth in business sectors will benefit society as a whole: LG

GST realized the dream of One Nation, One Tax and guaranteed revenue flow to the states. Every taxpayer must come forward & contribute towards nation building: LG

Lt Governor expresses gratitude to the business community & citizens of Jammu Kashmir for their cooperation & invaluable contribution in the development of J&K

Encroached land retrieved by the government will be utilized for the welfare of common man. Schools, colleges, hospitals, sports facilities will be developed on the retrieved land: LG

JAMMU, MARCH 01: Lieutenant Governor Shri Manoj Sinha today inaugurated the GST symposium and Tax awareness initiative ‘Kar-Tavya’ for industries, traders association, DDOs & other stakeholders, at the Convention Center.

The GST symposium is being organized by J&K State Taxes Department in collaboration with The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

The Lt Governor said the outreach to help, guide the stakeholders & taxpayers to build synergy and to achieve the prime objective to set J&K on a high growth trajectory.

Systematic approach by the State Taxes Department to simplify the regulatory compliances has led to revenue augmentation and improved ease of doing business for the stakeholders. Such symposium and awareness drive will further stimulate the rate of compliance & productive capacity, added the Lt Governor.

“We are following the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s mantra of Transform, Reform & Perform to build a prosperous & Atmanirbhar J&K. It is the collective responsibility of citizens and business enterprises to unlock potential and drive J&K’s economic growth,” said the Lt Governor.

The reforms and policies focus on protection and empowerment of the common man. Our long-term economic development policies are aimed at reducing inequalities for the welfare of society. Robust growth in business sectors will benefit society as a whole, the Lt Governor observed.

It is imperative to ensure that economic growth through stabilization of the tax revenues is ensured at all levels.  At the same time it should also be ensured that habit gets inculcated in every business enterprise & consumers to pay taxes with pride, he added.

We must achieve the target of 100% GST tax coverage. Every taxpayer must come forward and contribute towards nation building, the Lt Governor further added.

GST realized the dream of One Nation, One Tax and guaranteed revenue flow to the states. I express my heartfelt gratitude to the business community and citizens of Jammu Kashmir for their cooperation & invaluable contribution in the development of J&K, the Lt Governor said.

Observing that increased business activities are required for long term economic development and strengthening food security & generating employment opportunities, the Lt Governor highlighted the effective steps taken by the administration for improving Ease of Doing Business, facilitating the expansion of the existing units & setting up of new industries & businesses and extending the benefits of amnesty schemes.

The reason for buoyancy in the revenue is due to several measures taken by the State Taxes Department like establishment of GST Facilitation Centers (GST Suvidha Kendras), District Level Awareness Programmes for the Stakeholders across the UT of J&K, Co-ordination Meetings between Central GST and UT GST authorities etc. The State Taxes Department has adopted a promotional approach rather than a regulatory one and is continuously focusing on capacity building, the Lt Governor noted.

The Lt Governor highlighted the transformation taking place in the industrial sector with the introduction of new Industrial development policy.

Jammu Kashmir has taken a giant leap in the industrial sector and investments from big companies from India & abroad continues to flow into the UT for industrial activities. Within two years, we have received investment proposals worth Rs 66,000 crores.  In the last 6 months, one industrial-business unit has commenced its operation every day.  This reflects the true picture of new & aspirational Jammu and Kashmir, the Lt Governor said.

The Lt Governor reiterated the government’s commitment to develop more land for industries. Every facility will be extended to 18 industrial estates in the future. I want more people from J&K to set up industries and avail benefit of industrial development scheme, he added.

Responding to the demand of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India for land for centre of excellence, the Lt Governor announced that the land will be allotted for the said purpose.

The Lt Governor further shared the vision of the UT Government for accelerating growth in various sectors. We are working with an integrated approach for development of all sectors, he added.

The Lt Governor also spoke on efforts of the government to generate employment and livelihood opportunities for the youth.

More than 30000 vacant government posts have been filled in the last three years. And wherever any wrong was found, CBI inquiry has been initiated. The recruitment for another 20,000 posts in administration will be advertised in 3-4 months, the Lt Governor informed.

We want to saturate self employment in J&K. Youth were identified from every panchayat and town of the UT, and in a single day, 75000 youth were provided more than Rs 939 cr financial assistance. More than 6 lakh women have been connected with NRLM, he noted.

The Lt Governor urged the people to not fall prey to the certain vested interests spreading false information and creating misconceptions around anti-encroachment drives, power generation and property tax.

No poor will be touched during anti encroachment drives but no influential encroacher will be spared. The encroached land retrieved by the government will be utilized for the welfare of common man and schools, colleges, hospitals, sports facilities will be developed on the retrieved land, said the Lt Governor.

The Lt Governor also shared the facts in detail regarding the imposition of property tax in the UT.

The property tax in Jammu and Kashmir is the lowest as compared to other states.  There are around 5,20,000 houses in cities of J&K. Out of these, 2,06,000 houses are less than 1000 sq ft and no tax is being imposed on them. No tax on 40% of the people living in cities, in rural and on religious places. 2,03,600 houses are less than 1500 sq ft and  80% of these households will have to pay less than Rs 600 per annum. This amount is one-tenth of the tax amount being paid in Shimla, Ambala and Dehradun, the Lt Governor said.

46,000 out of 1,01,000 shops in city areas are less than 100 sq ft and they will have to pay upto Rs 700 per annum. Out of these 46,000 shops, 80% will have to pay a meager Rs 600 per annum/ Rs 50 per month. 30,000 shops will have to pay taxes below Rs 2000 per annum and out of these, 20,000 will have to pay less than Rs 1500 which is also one-tenth of the amount being paid in Shimla, Ambala and Dehradun, he noted.

Revenue will directly go to the accounts of municipalities and corporations. This step has been taken to make our cities an engine of growth, he added.

The Lt Governor also invited suggestions from all sections of the society with regard to better arrangement in property tax.

Our doors are open. Everyone must come forward in making J&K a dynamic and developed region of the country, he added.

On the occasion, the Lt Governor unveiled Kar-Tavya periodical and Kar-Tavya booklet and also handed over Letter of Appreciation to organisations and top tax payers of the UT.

Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary; Dr Rashmi Singh, Commissioner State Taxes; Sh Ranjit Kumar Agarwal, National VP, Institute of Chartered Accountants India (ICAI) and other senior officers and various stakeholders were present on the occasion.

JAMMU — Several stone sculptures, believed to be thousands of years old, were found in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda district, an official spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The sculptures were found buried 10 feet in the ground when some villagers of Siwli in Gandoh sub-division were excavating the place to find a water source, the official said.

He said the paintings on stone depicting ancient art, tradition and religious figures have been preserved by the locals.

The locals have sought the intervention of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to establish the historical significance of the sculptures, the official said.

Deputy Commissioner Doda, Vishesh Paul Mahajan, on receiving the information, confirmed the findings from Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Gandoh, Arun Kumar Badyal.

After confirmation, Mahajan has taken up the matter with the secretary of the Culture department who has assured appropriate action, the spokesperson said. — (PTI)

JAMMU: Anti Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) Jammu wing arrested one Interstate drug peddler and recovered 180 kg of hashish (fine quality cannabis) from his possession.

Senior superintendent of police Vinay Kumar Sharma said, “ANTF foiled a bid to smuggle a commercial quantity of hashish worth lakhs from Kashmir to outside of UT with the arrest of one interstate drug peddler.”

“ANTF received a specific information that one person namely Ramesh son of Pappa Ram of Gangawas Corna from Barmer in Rajasthan, who is the habitual narco smuggler, is transporting a consignment of narcotics and is on the way from Kashmir to outside UT via NH44 in some unknown vehicle,” Sharma added.

He said, “The sleuth of ANTF Jammu wing put up random check points at different places along the NH44 across three districts.”

“The accused was arrested and contraband and vehicle were also seized,” Sharma said.

A case under the NDPS Act was registered at ANTF police station.

JAMMU: Claiming that there is lack of communication between the public and the bureaucracy in Jammu and Kashmir, veteran Congress leader Karan Singh on Tuesday advocated free and fair assembly elections to address the “missing link” by installing a popular government.

Singh, son of the last Dogra ruler Maharaja Hari Singh, also demanded restoration of the full statehood to the Union Territory.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function here, the former ‘Sadr-i-Riyasat’ of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir said there is no possibility of taking back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) without a war which only brings death and destruction.

Responding to a question about the policies of BJP-led Central government in J&K, he said “it (the developments of 2019 when the Centre revoked Article 370 and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two Union territories), was a very drastic step to remove the whole special structure and it has now been three years that J&K is under central administration.

“A lot of good things have happened and there is no doubt about it, but what I gather is that there is a lack of communication between the public and the bureaucracy. MLAs, whether good or bad, play an important role as they are intermediaries between people and the government.

“Today, there are no MLAs and so there is a bureaucracy and they cannot listen to everyone. It is not their job and that gap needs to be filled, which can be done by holding free and fair elections to pave way for a popular government. The popular government will be a link which is missing,” he said.

Asked whether it is time to get back PoK, he said “reversing the time is not so easy and without a war it is not possible to get it back. You know the consequences of a war which brings death and destruction.” However, he said it is true that the areas under illegal occupation of the neighbouring countries are part of Jammu and Kashmir and “if we get these areas back it is good. But are we ready for a war, China is also standing there.” He also advocated restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

On bifurcation of the erstwhile state, he said, “I believe we have to look forward rather than going back which is not beneficial.” “My mantra is that I have always looked at the present and future. I have seen a lot of things (in my life) and I have never been discouraged (by events). Time keeps changing and let us do something to make the world a better place,” he said.

“Our elders have given their blood to spread the borders of India to Gilgit and Ladakh,” he said.

Singh also opposed forced conversions, whether in India or Pakistan and said such things should not happen.