Excelsior Correspondent

SRINAGAR, Nov 9: J&KBank opened its 827th BusinessUnit (branch) at Chersoo,Awantipora in district Pulwamahere today.

The branch is fully computer-ized loaded with State-Of-Art-technology to render all worldclass banking services to the cus-tomers conveniently.

The bank’s Zonal Head South1, Mohd Maqbool Lone inaugu-rated the Business Unit in pres-ence of a good gathering valu-able customers, citizens of thearea and senior officers of theBank.

The Zonal Head said, “J&KBank is the State’s financial back-bone, which offers viable prod-ucts and services to the cus-tomers”. “We have come to serveyou at your doorsteps to ensureyou reap the benefits of financialschemes both in deposit as well asloan segment and enjoying latestbanking facilities.” He urged thepeople to avail the benefits of theproducts offered by the Bank.

The people from the areaappreciated the efforts of theBank to open a Business Unit inChersoo Pulwama. Opening ofbranch by J&K Bank will easethe hardships faced by the area”,they said.

Excelsior Correspondent

SRINAGAR, Nov 9:Jammu and Kashmir BankLimited has told the HighCourt that it doesn't comeunder the Right toInformation Act and can'tnominate the PublicInformation Officer.

The bank has filed itsresponse before the HighCourt in response to a petitionfiled by Advocate FirdousAhmad Parray seeking direc-tion upon the Jammu andKashmir Bank to designatethe Public InformationOfficer and furnish informa-tion under the provision of theAct.

The Bank in its reply has

said that the J&K Bank is notat all financed by the StateGovernment as such the Bankis not obliged under the act tonominate the 'PublicInformation Officer'.

The bank further says thatit is not public authorityunder the provisions of theAct. The issue regarding, isJ&K Bank is a 'public author-ity 'or not is already pendingbefore the Supreme Court.

The Court sought responsefrom the State Government ina PIL seeking provision ofRight to Information Act beenforced on every departmentto disclose the informationwithin prescribed period.

The Division Bench ofJustice Mohammad Yaqoob

Mir and Justice AliMohammad Magrey directedthe Government throughChief Secretary to file theresponse to the PIL by orbefore November 23.

The PIL states that underthe Section 4 of the RTI Act itis obligatory for every depart-ment to disclose informationvoluntarily within a period of120 days.

"The information shall befurnished by everyGovernment department, semiGovernment organization,public sector banks with morethan 50 percent GovernmentShare, board or a corporationshould proactively or volun-tarily give the information",reads the petition.

It is further stated that theinformation must be digitizedand put on the website of thedepartment with name, desig-nation, powers, duties,responsibilities and salariesof all the officers working inthat particular organizationshould be put on website. It isfurther said that all the infor-mation should be availablewith the Public InformationOfficer and there will be noneed to submit a writtenapplication or pay applicationfee if the Section 4 of the actis implemented in letter andspirit but this section has notbeen implemented.

The petitioner also seeks adirection upon the RegistrarGeneral of the High Court fortaking steps to make the dailyorders and judgments avail-able on the official website ofthe High Court so that ordersare easily accessible to peopleand those associated with thejudiciary.

Advisor to CM, CS discussR&R plan of action

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 9: Advisor to the Chief Minister, Prof AmitabhMattoo today stressed for giving greater impetus to the Relief &Rehabilitation effort launched by the State Government.

In a meeting with the Chief Secretary, B R Sharma here, ProfMattoo discussed various issues pertaining to the overallprogress and plan of action being followed to ensure completesynergy at all levels so that commitments of the Governmenttowards the affected people under various Relief &Rehabilitation categories is realized expeditiously.

Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, B B Vyas,Principal Secretary, Relief & Rehabilitation, Sundeep KNayak, Commissioner Secretary, R&B, Rohit Kansal,Managing Director, JKPCC, Daleep Thusoo were also presentin the meeting.

Adil LateefSRINAGAR, Nov 9:

Terming the Rs 80,000 crorepackage announced by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi asjugglery of figures, theKashmir Chamber ofCommerce and Industry(KCCI) today said the flood-hittraders and residents have beenignored and left disappointed.

“The Rs 80,000 crore pack-age announced by PrimeMinister is jugglery of figures.We have already rejected it…We wanted immediate reliefsimilar to what was given toUttarakhand after floods. TheGovernment of India hadimmediately come to rescueand had distributed relief,”KCCI president, MushtaqAhmad Wani, told reportershere.

The KCCI president saidthe flood victims in Valleyhave been given nothingdespite waiting for more than a

year. “Inspite of immediaterelief, they (Government ofIndia) has allocated funds forthe State Government for theperiod of five years,” he said,adding: “We would like thatthe Centre considers release ofRs 44, 000 crore as immediaterelief which was submitted to itby State Government.”

He said an estimated Rs 1lakh crore damage wasassessed by the Chamber andother trade organizations due tofloods while the UnitedNations Annual DisasterStatistical review has put thelosses at Rs 1, 04, 000 crore,surpassing the earlier assess-ments.

He said the Centre has keptdifferent heads in Rs 7854crore allocated to StateGovernment for the relief,flood management and disas-ters. They have kept it for floodmanagement, dredging of Tawiand Jhelum rivers. We hadsought micro details from them

regarding how much they aregoing to spend on Jhelum andTawi and how much they havekept for relief and rehabilita-tion. But they have not givenus micro details of those Rs7854 crores,” Wani said.

The KCCI president saidthe Chamber apprehends thatthe flood victims would not beprovided anything from theseRs 7854 crore. “We believe thismuch amount would be spenton dredging and other thingswhile flood hit people wouldbe given nothing,” he said.

The KCCI hinted towardslaunching strike and said itwould consult other tradeorganization to explore theoptions for future. “We willtake on board other tradeorganizations to explore theoptions what to do as there isnothing in package. It is likerubbing salt on the wounds ofaffected people,” said FaizBakhsi, the senior KCCI mem-ber.

Excelsior Correspondent

NEW DELHI, Nov 9:Reiterating that the NarendraModi Government is committedto address problems faced bypeople living along the borderareas, Union Minister of State(Independent Charge)Northeast, MoS PMO, DoPT,

Atomic Energy and Space, DrJitendra Singh said here todaythat this, nevertheless, requiresa consistent approach becausethe problems faced by thesepeople are diverse and peculiar.

Dr. Jitendra Singh wasspeaking to the representativesof FANS (Forum forAwareness of NationalSecurity) organization who pre-sented him a memento as atoken of thanks to the ModiGovernment for havingannounced Rs.80,000 crorepackage for J&K. Pertinent tomention that the FANS hasbeen, for quite some time, pur-suing the issues related to bor-der States at different levels.

The J&K package announcedby Prime Minister on Saturdayincludes funds for border areapeople as well as provision forthe recruitment of youth inforces and also for the paymentof emoluments to the SPOs.

In general, Dr. JitendraSingh observed that India’s bor-ders are very extensive stretch-

ing from J&K across theHimalayas and in the North-East. Similarly, the problemsfaced along these borders arealso extensive and varying innature, he said.

As for J&K, Dr. JitendraSingh said, his own Lok Sabhaconstituency of Kathua-Udhampur-Doda has a longstretch of border and one com-mon complaint there is that thefarmers on the InternationalBorder and Line of Control(LoC) do not receive adequatecompensation in lieu of landprocured for them by securityforces and this issue has beentaken up by him with theMinistry of Defence.

Similarly, he said, there wasa demand to raise the compen-sation provided to the deceasedand the injured people by bor-der firing, which he personallytook up with Union HomeMinister Rajnath Singh and wasassured that this amount is soongoing to be raised to Rs.5 lakhs.The task of constructing perma-nent bunkers along the borderfor the people to take shelter inthe event of sudden cross firingor shelling has already been ini-

tiated and this has been con-firmed to him by senior author-ities of both the BSF as well asArmy, he added.

On account of frequent crossborder firing, Dr. Jitendra Singhsaid, there was a common com-plaint that whenever people liv-ing in these areas are temporar-ily shifted to neighbouringareas, they are not certain aboutwhere exactly to take shelterbut, of late, a large chunk ofland in the vicinity of Hiranagarhas been identified providing 5marlas to each family for thispurpose and a similar exercisewould also be undertaken alongthe other borders.

Dr. Jitendra Singh disclosedthat another issue is that of pro-viding reservation in jobs andin higher education which is aprovision available to childrenof people living along the LoCbut not available to those livingalong the International Border.Referring to grants availableunder Border AreaDevelopment Programme(BADP), he said that variousspecial welfare schemes arebeing initiated. At the sametime, he said, from his ownresources, he has initiated aprocess of constructing toiletsalong the border areas in hisconstituency and nearly 100such toilets are already com-plete. In addition, under thenew social security schemesintroduced by the ModiGovernment, it has been mademandatory to provide insur-ance cover to all the familiesliving in the border areas, headded.

Referring to North-East,which happens to be under hisministerial charge, Dr. JitendraSingh referred to programmeslike ‘Organic Farming Mission’introduced by the presentGovernment for upliftment ofthe living conditions of peoplealong North-Eastern borders.

Naveen Kumar, Chairman,FANS and Executive Membersincluding Rajesh Lamba,Suchitra Chhillar, Dr AnilAggarwal, Surender Gupta,S.K.Sinha, R.S.Sehgal, SonalGupta and Sudhanshu Aggarwalwere present on the occasion.

DAILY EXCELSIOR, JAMMU TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2015 (PAGE 3)

Aspirants smellrat in SKIMS

interviewsExcelsior Correspondent

SRINAGAR, Nov 9: Thedoctors who have applied forposts of lecturers in SKIMSMedical College Bemina intoday said that the DirectorSKIMS has managed to getthe interviews shifted toJammu to help his relative.

The aspirants asked that ifthe posts were meant forSKIMS Bemina, why inter-views should be held inJammu. They alleged that it isfor the first time in 16 yearsthat interview has been shift-ed to Jammu at the behest ofDirector SKIMS whose closerelative is an applicant.

The SKIMS in an adver-tisement (SKIMS MC-02 of2015 dated 16-05-2015) saidthat interviews forAdvertisement Notice No 03of 2013 dated 14-10-2013 andNotice 01 SKIMS MC of2014 dated 25-02-2014 willbe held in Jammu.

The aspirants allege thatthe interviews have been can-celled four times for the lastseveral years as the Director'srelative was not eligible.

They said despite defi-ciencies pointed out byMedical Council of India inFaculties of Preclinicaldepartments likeBiochemistry, Physiology andPediatrics the posts werenever filled up.

Director SKIMS DrShowkat Ahmad Zargar dis-missed these allegationsmade by the aspirants. Hesaid that the decision to holdinterviews in Jammu has beenmade by the Chief Secretary.

On allegations that deci-sion has been taken to favourhis close relative, theDirector said that any eligiblecandidate has the right toapply for the job.

Excelsior Correspondent

SAMBA, Nov 9: The Stateunit of the Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) led by its PresidentTarsem Khullar, State coordina-tors R.K Bhagat and JagdishVerma and Ex MLA Som Nathorganised a mammoth rallytoday in District Samba.

The rally started from theGuru Ravi Dass Temple Sambaand after passing throughNational Highway culminatedwith handing over of a memo-randum to DeputyCommissioner, Samba for itsfurther transmission to theGovernor. The rally was held insupport of reservations inJammu and Kashmir.

While speaking on the occa-sion, Tarsem Khullar informedthat the BSP has demandedimmediate calling of SpecialSession of the State Legislaturefor extending 77th, 81st and85th Amendment Acts ofConstitution to Jammu andKashmir so that the situation inthe matters of promotion inemployment arising as a resultof court orders could be negatedfor all times to come.

He disclosed that theBrahminical forces within andoutside the Government are partof a greater conspiracy todeprive the underprivileged sec-tions of their genuine rights. He

appealed the Judiciary to resistsuch tactics and not fall a prey tosuch conspiracy. He furtherstated that the reservations forScheduled Castes, ScheduledTribes and Backward sectionswas not a charity but a matter ofaccording representation to thepeople who were traditionallydeprived of education, means oflivelihood and safety by theBrahminical system and theirreligion.

It was because of untiringefforts of Baba Sahib Ambedkarthat these sections were giventheir human rights. Digging intothe history, he informed that theprovisions of according repre-sentation in employment, educa-tion and other institutions ofgovernance was included in theConstitution of India in theaftermath of Poona Pact of 1932wherein the depressed classeslost their right of ‘SeparateElectorate with double votingpower’ and were; instead, givenreservations.

He also stated that attack onreservation was depiction ofCaste prejudices still prevalentin the society and RSS was vig-orously trying to foment suchprejudices and communalhatred. He further stated that thestatement of Mohan Bhagwat,RSS chief for reviewing thereservation policy was just thetip of the iceberg.

Party takes out rally in SambaReservations not a charity: BSP

Govt committed to address borderpeople’s problems: Dr Jitendra

3 bodies recoveredExcelsior Correspondent

SRINAGAR, Nov 9: Policetoday said it recovered threebodies including of a Beaconemployee at three separateplaces in city here.

A police spokesman said abody was recovered nearTengpora in Batamaloo area."The deceased was later identi-fied as Abdul Rashid Sodagar, aresident of Nundresh Colony Ain Bemina," he said, adding thatafter completion of legal-medico formalities, the body ofthe deceased was handed over tohis legal heirs for last rites.

The spokesman said anotherbody was recovered from YatraNiwas in Lal Chowk here. "Thedeceased was later identified asMahesh Chand, a Beaconemployee from Uttarakhand,"he said.

The police spokesman saidthe third body was recoveredbeneath the fly-over atHyderpora here. He said thebody was of a female and seemsshe was mentally unsound andnon-state subject. The policehave not identified the deceasedso far.

The bodies of MaheshChand and unidentified femaleare in Mortuary at PanthaChowk here, he said. "Policehave registered cases and initi-ate proceedings under Section174 CrPC to ascertain the causeof these deaths," the policespokesman added.

CS reviews facilities in estates coloniesExcelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 9: ChiefSecretary, B. R. Sharma todayreviewed the facilities being

extended to the employees inthe estates colonies in wintercapital Jammu in a meeting.

Chief Secretary receivedbrief on the overall status inthe estates colonies withrespect to the availability ofwater, electricity, garbage con-

tainers, parking lots besidessecurity arrangements.

To allay the concerns

regarding water supply insome of the main estatescolonies, Chief Secretaryasked Chief Engineer, PHE toexplore the feasibility of meet-

ing water require-ments by agumenta-tion through borewells on pilot basis.

“Water, electricity,sanitation and propersecurity arrangementsshould be ensured inall estates colonies”,Mr Sharma stressed.He also askedDirector Estates andF l o r i c u l t u r eDepartment to ensure

sprucing up of parks andlawns in the premises ofestates colonies.

Brig Chatterjee is new MH Jammu Commandant

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 9: BrigTathagata Chatterjee, a dedicat-ed and astute Molecular

Hematologis twith impecca-ble professionalc o m p e t e n c e ,assumed thecommand ofprestigious andbusiest Military

Hospital of Satwari Cantt,Jammu recently.

Immediately after assumingthe command, the Commandantmet senior officers of the hospi-tal and interacted with them onhis first day in the office.Various specialist doctorsbriefed him about the presentcondition of the hospital.

Before assuming the presentappointment he has served invarious prestigious hospitals ofIndian Armed Forces includingArmy Hospital (R & R) DelhiCantonment as Professor of

Pathology and Haematologyand Armed Forces MedicalCollege, Pune as Professor andHoD of Pathology andTransfusion Medicine.

Born in Pune, Brig Chatterjeejoined the Army Medical Corps.He is an alumnus of ArmedForces Medical College Puneand AIIMS, New Delhi. He is aDM in Haematology fromAIIMS and trained in MolecularHaematology from St Jude’sChildren Cancer Hospital, USA.Brig Chatterjee is a Member ofthe National Academy ofMedical Sciences (MNAMS)and fellow of the InternationalUnion for Cancer Control(FUICC).

On assuming the charge,Brig Chatterjee said his mainfocus would be on the patientcare and availability of medi-cines with the best modern facil-ities available in MH. He saidthat extending facilities to ex-serviceman would also be a pri-ority.

Pulwama residents demandreconstruction of 2 bridgesExcelsior Correspondent

SRINAGAR, Nov 9: Resi-dents of Pulwama district ofSouth Kashmir today soughtthe reconstruction of two vitalbridges in the district that werewashed away due to September2014 floods.

The two bridges at Rohmooand Gudora were washed awayin last year’s floods and sincethen no reconstruction tookplace. While as Rohmoobridge connects Pulwama withPakharpora area of Budgamdistrict, the Godora Bridge islocated on Srinagar-Pulwamabypass.

The local residents of theseareas told Excelsior that theconcerned authorities con-structed diversions in absenceof the bridges but they werewashed away several times asa result of flash floods.

They said that diversionsare in place but are not fit for

vehicles and the light motorvehicles suffer chamber dam-age while crossing them.

It must be mentioned herethat Rohmoo diversion waswashed away more than fourtimes due to flash floods trig-gered by heavy rains inRomshi stream this year. Thelocals said that the authoritiesshould start reconstruction sothat they don’t face inconven-ience repeatedly.

Assistant ExecutiveEngineer (AEE) Roads andBuildings, Zahoor Ahmad, toldExcelsior that the work onGudora Bridge would be start-ed soon. “The funds for thework have been allotted andwe will start the work on itsoon,” he said. However, hesaid, the work on RohmooBridge cannot be started as ofnow due to non-availability offunds. “There are no fundsand till then we cannot startwork,” he added.

JK Bank opens 827th Branch

PM disappointed flood-hittraders, residents: KCCI

JK Bank tells HC it doesn’tcome under RTI Act

Chief Secretary, B R Sharma chairing meeting at Jammu on Monday.

Zonal Head South JK Bank Mohammed Maqbool Lone inau-gurating Bank Branch at Chersoo on Monday.

Dhanteras is considered an auspicious occasion for purchasing gold or silver jewellery and utensils hence the cherished cus-tomers are busy making purchases. — Excelsior/Rakesh

Chief Minister Mufti Mohd Sayeed taking guard of honour on re-opening of Civil Secretariatin Jammu on Monday. — Excelsior/Rakesh

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh being presented a memen-to by the FANS organisation as a token of thanks to the ModiGovernment for Rs 80,000 crore package for J&K, at New Delhion Monday.