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“Parents have to pay only for services their wards are provided”

Srinagar: Taking cognizance of the media reports and the complaints from the parents, Director School Education Kashmir, Dr. G.N. Itoo has warned the private schools of action under norms who are demanding lump sum fee and the charges for heating and transport facilities for the time when these facilities are not being provided by the school.

In this regard DSEK has issued a circular vide no. DSEK/PS/523, dated: 22-12-2018 and made such erring Institutions answerable and apprised the Government about the matter.

The circular reads as, “No school can force the parents to pay fee in one go. The school fee, as per norms, is to be paid only in monthly installments including for vacation period. During vacation period fee is to be charged only for the services which are being utilized by the students and no other fee can be charged.

Schools can charge only tuition fee in case of teachers and salary of drivers in case of transport. No heating charges can be recovered from students when these services are not being used by students during vacation period.”

DSEK has advised the administrators of Private schools of complying with these orders in letter and spirit and added that they can charge tuition and transport facilities from the parents for winter vacations only when they are giving the salary to the teachers and drivers for these months. DSEK said that private schools should collect the fees from the parents only on monthly basis as per norms.

The Jammu and Kashmir Joint Coordination Committee of Private Schools has assured Director School Education Kashmir that the rules and regulations of the Department shall be followed by all the private schools and the Coordination Committee shall stand by the side of the Department in taking any action against any private school violating these norms.

The authorities at the Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST) have postponed the examinations slated for Monday (December 24).

A spokesman of the varsity said new dates for the deferred exams will be notified later separately.

He said the class work will also remain suspended at the IUST campus on Monday.

Jammu: In a boost to Peoples Conference (PC), former MLA Baqir Rizvi and PDP spokesman Abhijeet Jasrotia joined the party today at Jammu.
The joining of Baqir and others is seen as part of party’s plan to expand its base in Jammu and Ladakh regions.
Peoples Conference chief Sajad Gani Lone has already with it clear that his party will not have a pre-poll alliance with any party.
The PC has emerged as a major political force in the State with several former legislators including influential Shia leader Imran Reza Ansari joining it after dissolution of Assembly.

Srinagar: Even as the government does not charge money from patients here at Kashmir’s lone maternity Lalla Ded Hospital, but people are forced to grease the palms of employees for almost every single service right from getting admitted to discharge from the hospital.
The plaques installed on the walls of the hospital reading “Don’t give or take bribe; it’s an offence” are nothing more than a prop used by the top brass of hospital administration to comfort themselves.
The unfortunate reality is that people have to pay even for the trivial things like getting the bed-sheet of their patient changed – not to talk of other things.
And since this hospital is about new-births, so people have to shell out big money before actually they are handed over their newborns.
“Newborn isn’t handed over to the family until they pay. And this is not the end — everything is to be paid for, whether it is shifting a patient from operation theatre to recovery room or from recovery room to some other ward. People have to pay for dressings, getting rooms cleaned up and also for services which are ideally taken as given in hospitals,” narrated a group of attendants when this reporter visited the hospital during past few days.
A woman from Uttar Pradesh, around 1400 kms from here, who was visiting Kashmir along with her husband Mohammad Qasim, got admitted at Lalla Ded Hospital when she developed labour pain.
Qasim said that from the day his wife was admitted in the hospital to the time she was discharged after giving birth to a daughter through caesarean section, he ended up paying more than Rs 7000 as ‘chai’ — a name given to illegal gratification that is sought by the hospital staff from the patients and their attendants.
Qasim, a first-time father, said. “It shouldn’t have happened. It must be stopped!”
Even those patients, who do not visit this hospital for delivering babies but for undergoing emergency surgeries are also forced to pay bribes.
“Our patient went through a critical surgery and she was writhing in pain but that didn’t stop employees from demanding money. In our four day stay at LD, we paid more than Rs 2000,” said Fahmeeda, an attendant.
Irshad Mohammad, one of the relatives of a patient who delivered a female baby, said that his family also had to bribe the employees, fearing they might face problems if resisted this wrongdoing.
He said that poor people from far-off places are hurt the most as they usually do not have money to pay. “How can a poor family satisfy the hunger of corrupt employees?”
When contacted, Medical Superintendent Dr Shabir Siddiqui said, “People are not coming forward. Until they complain we can’t curb corruption.”
He said, “We have taken many measures including installation of CCTVs and complaint boxes.”
Dr Siddiqui also said that while making rounds “I ask attendants outside labour room that this hospital is a government hospital and everything is free of cost here”.
This is indeed the problem. Talking about these cosmetic measures in their cozy rooms the administrators believe their job is done. But the reality is that they are not doing anything practical to root out corruption.
“People don’t come forward to complain” makes a good assertion for media consumption, but fact of the matter is that no action is taken even after formal complaints are lodged with the authorities!

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The killed militants belonged to AnsarGhazwatul Hind, an Al Qaeda-affiliate Zakir Musa group.

Prime Minister NarendraModi Saturday lauded the “valour of police forces of the country, especially from Jammu and Kashmir, for their role in countering militants”.
The PM’s praise came on the day when six Kashmiri militants were killed by a joint team of the army, Central Reserve Police Force and men from special operations group of the state police.

The killed militants belonged to AnsarGhazwatul Hind, an Al Qaeda-affiliate Zakir Musa group.
Addressing the valedictory ceremony at the conference of directors general and inspectors general of police at Kevadiya in Gujarat, Modi said he was “proud of the police force in Jammu and Kashmir” for their role in “countering militants, and successfully engaging them”.

Sopore, Dec 22: Forces on Saturday night launched a cordon-and-search operation at Hardshiva area of Sopore in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.

Reports reaching GNS said that a joint team of army’s 22 RR, and special operation group of police (SOG) laid a siege at Shiva village of Sopore late today evening.

Local reports said, forces have installed the lights in the area and conducted door to door search operation.

SSP Sopore Javid Iqbal also confirmed the incident to GNS and said that the cordon was launched following inputs about the movement of some suspected militants.(GNS)

Srinagar: There are around 150 militants operating in south Kashmir and mostly are locals, army said on Saturday.

Addressing media after the culmination of a gunfight at Tral, leading to the killing of six militants, army’s GOC Victor Force, Major General Jhonson P Mathew said the situation in South Kashmir was “stable but fragile.”

“We had this operation today morning in the Tral region of Guri Kadal jointly by the army, CRPF and police.

“It was a hideout which was prepared by the militants outside the village and by around first light we had the contact with the militants. It was a clean operation in which finally six militants were killed,” he said.

Among six militants killed in the gunfight, he said, one was Soliha Mohammad Akhoon who was known to be the deputy commander of Ansar Gazwatul Hind led by Zakir Musa, a known militant commander.

“Losing six militants is a set back as we were tracking their movement for quite a while. There were many anti-national activities in the region and they were spreading (militancy) in this region and certainly with this operation we have broken their back,” he said.

Regarding the recruiting of militants by Zakir Musa, the army commander said: “He was initially with HM and thereafter he formed this group which initially was thought to align with the Al-Qaida. However, Indian agencies are yet to confirm his allegiance to any other group outside the country. (His) group called Gazwat-ul-Hindh as well as ISJK both seemed to be alliance and on the ideology of Islamic caliphate. He has been recruiting young boys in this area and carrying on with these activities of Gazwatul Hindh.”

He said that social media was one of the major tools being used by the militants to “propaganda their ideology and to reach the young minds and to corrupt the young minds of the Valley.”

Regarding the situation in South Kashmir, he said, somebody else has described it as stable but fragile. “And I agree with this it is still fragile,” he said.

The army commander said that there are many factors about the youths who are joining militancy ranks, but “one certainly is the radicalization and which we all talk about another is alienation and more important than that is proxy war that is being played out here by our neighbor Pakistan and that is a major factor for which youngsters going wayward and getting recruited into this unending spiral of violence.”

“Our appeal to them always had been to shun violence whatever grievances they have. There is a government and democratic process in place. They need to use the process and shun the gun culture,” he said, adding, “We have more than 150 militants who are operating south region currently and mostly are local and even few number of Pakistani also who are operating this area.”

He said the army was here to conduct the counter militant operations and “we will continue with our operations but at the same time, we are appealing to the youngsters to shun the gun culture, surrender and even during operations we give an opportunity to the militants to so that they can live a happy life.” (GNS)

Srinagar: Prof. Saifuddin Soz, former Union Minister Saturday said that Joint Resistance Leadership constitutes a nucleus that could help the process of a purposeful dialogue.

“I wonder how Government of India will succeed in resolving the crisis in Kashmir when senior BJP leaders like Raj Nath Singh say that the separatists – a reference to JRL – do not lose any occasion to fan ‘anti India sentiment’. This is misreading of the situation in Kashmir,” he said.

“It is a tragic circumstance that Govt. of India does not want to understand that use of force in Kashmir can only lead to worsening of the situation. The only way that can lead to solution of the dispute is through a purposeful dialogue. If that is so, the JRL constitutes a situation that can make dialogue purposeful.”

“It would be prudent for Govt. of India to change its policy of repression through excessive use of force and adopt a policy of Conciliation for which the effective instrument is a Purposeful Dialogue.”

Srinagar, Dec 22: Sajad Lone Chairman J&K Peoples Conference today welcomed Lateef Khan into the fold of People’s Conference at his Residence. Lateef Khan is a prominent social personality hailing from Gurez, Bandipora today joined People’s Conference along with scores of his supporters which includes Riyaz Ahmad Chekat, Aijaz Ahmad Lone, Aijaz Ahmad Shah, Ishfaq Ahmad Lone, Mohammad Sayed Khan, Mohammad Ismail Sheikh all hailing from Gurez.
Speaking on the occasion Lone said, “Time has come to change and dismantle the traditional family rule of NC and PDP which held hostage the interests and well being of entire peoples to the whims of a ‘select’ few. Rather than addressing the aspirations and grievances of the people of the state there was put into place, very early on, a system wherein by extending a scheme of patronage-both financial and political to a few blue-eyed individuals. This evolved a ‘Patronage-based’ socio-political system the first casualty of which was merit and enterprise. Even if a person had to get a small job done they had to knock on the doors of those wielding patronage and only then would any job be enabled. This was also effective in denying empowerment at the grass-roots level and retaining it with the favoured few. The system however rung the death-knell of progress and enterprise in the state and devoid it of meeting its true potential. We can’t afford to be bystanders and need to stand up and carve our own collective destiny according to our own will and potential.”
Lone went on to say that People’s Conference is committed to work for inclusive development of the people and bring in reforms in the system, to ensure, safeguard the interests of a common man. He thanked to the people who are joining in large numbers in pursuit of becoming the part of carvan of change envisioned by People’s Conference

“Overloading main cause for power disruption”

Srinagar, Dec 22: Over frequent power curtailment in the Valley, Power Development Department (PDD) Chief Engineer, Hashmat Qazi blamed people for resorting to overload during winters, saying the department is currently facing power deficit of 900 Megawatt (MW) in Kashmir.
Talking to Kashmir News Service (KNS), Qazi said that the department is currently facing power deficit of 900 MWT due to which the curtailment program has been started. “In metered areas, there is six hours curtailment and in non-metered, there is nine hours curtailment,” he said.
“We don’t call it power crisis as we are supplying 1300 MWT power instead of 1050 MWT,” he added, saying that people resort to overload by using electric gadgets, which result in tripping of grids, therefore cause sufferings to people of City for a day or half.
He added that the department appeals people yet again not to go for overload especially in peak hours from 06-10 pm so that the department can cater the load easily. “Action is being taken against those who violate the norms but I want people to become responsible regarding the usage of electricity,” he added.
Qazi further informed that the Alasteng grid is being established from past some years and this year work was apace and is about to complete. “I believe the work on the grid will be completed in a week following which line process will be done in 10-15 days. Once the grid will start functioning by the end of January 2019, I believe the people will heave a sigh of relief,” he added. (KNS)