Preserving literary treasure

Sir,

The State Government has undertaken the task of preserving old books and manuscripts which makes a happy reading. In Kashmir there are thousands of Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic manuscripts which are in the process of being digitised so that they are made available for the posterity. In this context a special mention has to be made of Sanskrit manuscripts which are very old some as old as eight or nine hundred years. Another important thing is that many of these old manuscripts are on Birch bark. These manuscripts are mainly written in Sharda character.

In addition to the manuscripts which are with the Department of Research and other Government Departments there are sizable number of manuscripts with private collectors. After 1990 the collection of these collectors has swelled.

But there is no news whether these manuscripts are being preserved and whether a catalogue of them has been made or not. Such manuscripts should also be digitised and a computer catalogue of the collection should be published so that scholars know about them.

Yours etc...
Praveen Kaul,
Barnai

Release D.A Cola installments

Sir,

Through the lines of your esteemed newspaper, I would like to request the Govt to issue necessary orders for release of D.A/Cola in favour of employees including retirees of the State Since Central Govt has already released. 5 percent D.A in favour of its employees but decision to this effect from State Govt is still awaited. It is hoped that as per commitment made by Chief Minister Gulam Nabi Azad with employees of PSUs regarding conversion of COLA into D.A should be fulfilled before ensuing festivals of 'Diwali' and 'Eid-ul-Fitr' falling in the month of Oct 2006 Other demands like pensionary benefits to employees of PSUs, regularisation of services of Adhoc/daily wages, enhancement of medical allowance also needs to be approved by the Govt in the larger interest of the employees.

Yours etc...
D S Khajuria
Parade

Decrease retirement age

Sir,

In response to a letter titled 'Increase Retirement Age', I would like to draw the attention of the Government towards the idea of increasing the age of the Government employees. The idea proposed by Madam Shaheda Rashid in her letter is not a practical one. The reasons against the proposal are many and valid as well. It is an established fact that hundreds of crores of rupees are entailed upon the salary expenditure of the employees. If we look at other States, the number of employees in our State compared to our population is very high as compared to them. It is also well known that thousands of unemployed youth are without jobs in the State. Many number of these unemployed youth are at the verge of getting overage. As Government employment is the chief source of livelihood in our State the raising of employee's retirement age will curtail the job opportunities of the countless unemployed youth. So it is requested to the Government that it should not entertain any idea of raising the retirement age of the employees.

Yours etc...
Mushtaq Bukhari
Ustad Mohalla
Jammu

Widen Jewel Bohri road

Sir,

The road from Jewel to Bohri is narrow. It was proposed that this road will be widened so that the huge traffic load on this road becomes less. It should be noted that this road has dense population areas on bothsides. During the last fifteen years Talab Tillo, Bohri and surrounding areas has been uprecedented construction boom in which countless colonies have come up. This has resulted in steep rise in Traffic density. In addition to this the Jewel Bohri road also caters to the traffic to Gajanso and Mud areas. Many times military vehicles also use this road. The stretch from Canal to Bohri after 8 PM is full of trucks and other big vehicles. Traffic jams on this road are a common sight now. The problem is further aggravated by the encroachments on the road. As a result a very narrow road length is available for the passage of traffic. It is hoped that the works Minister will take note to this problem and initiate steps for the widening of this road.

Yours etc...
M K Tikoo
2/12 Manorma Vihar,
Bohri