5 pc cut in fare, freight unchanged
Lalu’s populist rail rolls on

NEW DELHI, Feb 26: Presenting a highly populist budget with an eye on the coming elections, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad today effected a five per cent cut in passenger fares across the board and a seven per cent reduction in AC I Class and 4 per cent in AC II tier, while keeping intact the freight structure.

The five per cent discount pertains to passenger fares beyond Rs 50 in non-suburban second class for both ordinary and mail and express trains.

In his fifth and the last full-fledged budget of the UPA Government, Mr Prasad said the relative index of fares for AC I tier will be reduced from 1150 to 1000 and from 850 to 600 for AC II tier.

For popular trains and during peak hour period, these reductions would be half as in the previous year.

In an unusually long speech running into two hours, the Railway Minister also announced a reduction of Re one per passenger for fares up to Rs 50, in non-suburban second class trains, both express and mail.

Carrying forward the logic of higher volumes based on low fares, Mr Prasad said there would be an increase in discount for travel in new design high-capacity reserved coaches.

While keeping the overall freight structure intact, the minister announced a five per cent reduction in freight rates for petrol and diesel to provide succour to the public reeling under high prices of these two commodities.

Besides, highest class 210 category of freight is to be reduced to 200 as part of the rationalisation process.

The presentation of the budget, which began with humour and wit, got lost in slogan-shouting and walkout as Opposition members expressed disappointment that little had been done for the areas they belong to.

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee time and again cajoled the members to permit the minister to make his statement and at times threatened that he would ask Mr Prasad to lay his speech on the table of the House.

The Minister chided the Opposition for disrupting the proceedings and described his budget as the "historic" one, which caters to the need of ‘Aam Aadmi’, the aged, women and the underprivileged.

In an innovative measure aimed at freight rationalisation, Mr Prasad announced special lump sum rates for merry-go-round services for customers who will provide track and terminals at both ends.

The minister effected liberalisation of traditional empty flow direction incentive scheme. This includes a 30 per cent discount on entire traffic in place of incremental traffic booked from goods shed; excluded some commodities and hiked discount on incremental traffic booked from private sidings from 30 per cent to 40 per cent.

The bouquet to the passengers included a 50 per cent concession to women in senior citizen category from the existing 30 per cent and a 50 per cent reduction in ticket fare for AIDS and HIV patients travelling to nominated treatment centres in second class.

The Monthly Seasonal Ticket (MST) for girl students will now continue up to graduation from the present level of Class XII and for boys, it would be up to 12th Standard in place of 10th Standard.

In line with concession given to other gallantary awardees for travelling in AC II tier along with one companion in Rajdhani and Shatabdi Trains, Ashok Chakra recipients will be extended the same discount in these premium trains. The bonanza of passenger services includes introduction of 10 new Garib Raths, 53 pairs of new trains and increase in frequency of 11 pairs.

Besides, 300 additional trains will be added to the crowded Mumbai suburban services.

In deference to the wishes of the Sikh community, Mr Prasad announced a special train from Anandpur Sahib and Patna Sahib to Gurdwara Sachkhand Sahib in Nanded, Maharashtra, during the tercentenary function of Guru Granth Sahib Gurta Gaddi.

A special train is to ply between Pune and Delhi for the Commonwealth Youth Games, to be held in Pune from October 12 to 18 this year.

Displaying his caring attitude, the Minister announced that a 7-coach mother-and-child health express would be launched on a pilot basis for providing medical facilities to expectant mothers, apart from children.

This train, to be launched in collaboration with the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, would have facilities like delivery operation room and child birth centre.

The new announcement was in line with the earlier pronouncements of Lifeline Express, Red Ribbon Express, Science Express and Azadi Express.

Realising the hardship faced by licensed porters, Mr Prasad said all of them would be absorbed as Class IV employees, like gangmen, in the railways.

The annual plan for 2008-09 has been fixed at Rs 37,500 crore, which is 25 per cent more than the previous year and the highest ever.

The total budgetary support will be of the order of Rs 7874 crore, including Rs 774 crore from the Central Road Fund. In this manner, internal and external budgetary resources would constitute 79 per cent of the annual plan.

The railways have been project to end the year with a cash surplus before the dividend of Rs 25000 crore. The return on capital deployed has been at an all time high of 21 per cent.

Of the 19 stations which are to be developed as models, the minister gave the name of four such stations to be developed during 2008-09. These are: New Delhi, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), Mumbai, Patna and Secunderabad. Using the PPP model, these world class stations are to attract private investment to the tune of Rs 15000 crore.

Giving a whiff of how he intends to modernise the popular transport behemoth, he announced his plans for installation of escalators at half of the railway stations in the country.

He also said that from now onwards, all passenger coaches would be made of stainless steel. These would be rust-proof and easy to maintain.

Faced with competition from low budget airlines, Mr Prasad addressed frequent complaints relating to cleanliness on premium trains. From now onwards, onboard cleaning would be done on Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains, and not just on stations. For the convenience of passengers, the railways would now have digital display on train arrivals and departures on most of the stations.

Taking into account frequent accidents at unmanned crossings, he said all such crossings would be converted into manned ones. Besides, 2500 old signals would be replaced.

Further, as many as 1000 Rail Over Bridges (ROBs) would be constructed, with 50 per cent of the cost to be met by States. To ensure safety at railway stations, he announced measures in this regard, including installation of Close Circuit TVs (CCTVs).

Bringing to the fore the efficiency of the railways, he said its operating ratio had come down to 73.3 per cent from 78 per cent a year earlier.

To ensure the robustness of its revenues in future, Mr Prasad said Rs 40,000 crore would be invested in commercialisation of its vacant land.

Later, in a press conference, Mr Prasad came down heavily on the Left and Opposition members for disrupting his budget speech and said such a "negative" attitude was going to achieve nothing.

"I don’t give anything out of my pocket. Everything has to be discussed studied and approved by the Planning Commission,’ said Mr Prasad, adding "if one has any grievance, one should submit the objections instead of shouting as things don’t work like that in Government".

Mr Prasad claimed that the budget for 2008-09 was a historic budget as it had brought relief to the common man, and to women in particular.

"We have achieved a cash surplus of Rs 25000 crore, with a total revenue of Rs 73,000 cr this year, and the revenue target for next year was Rs 83,000 crore," he said.

Mr Prasad said the railways have every year been adding something new to make travel more convenient for passengers, and it was with this in view that 53 new trains, and 10 Gharib Raths had been introduced and frequencies of various others had been increased. The Government has also decided to have minority cell in the Railway Board, said Mr Prasad.

Replying to a question on progress of railways in the hill areas, he said the work in Jammu and Kashmir for the national railway project was going on and the 109 km stretch from Anantnag to Baramulla will be opened in June.

As regards extension of rail to Uttarakhand, he said the terrain lies in difficult hill areas, for which a lot of funds had to be mobilised.

To another question, he said it was wrong to say that he had discriminated against some regions in extension and improvement of railway services. About safety and accidents, he said despite quantum jump in the volume of traffic being carried by the railway, the track record for safety is constantly improving.

Consequential train accidents have been decreasing from .41 million train km in 2003-4 to .29 in 2004-5 to .23 in 2006-7. Total accidents in 2007-8 upto January 2008, were 168 against 173 in the corresponding period last year. (AGENCIES)

Highlights

Fare:
* Re 1 discount per passenger for fares up to Rs 50 in non suburban second class (ordinary and mail/express).
* 5 per cent discount across the board for passenger fares beyond Rs 50 for all non suburban second class (ordinary and mail/express).
* Increase in discount for travel in new design high capacity reserved coaches.
* Reduction in fare: AC-I 7 per cent, and AC-II 4 per cent (the reduction will be half for popular trains and during peak period).
Freight:
* 5 per cent reduction in freight rates for petrol and diesel.
* 14 per cent reduction in freight rate of fly-ash.
* 30 per cent discount on entire traffic in place of incremental traffic booked from goods shed.
* Increase in discount on incremental traffic booked from private sidings from 30 per cent to 40 per cent.
* 6 per cent freight concession for traffic booked from other States for stations in North Eastern States.
New trains:
* 10 new Garib Raths to be introduced.
* 53 pairs of new trains.
* Extension of trains : 16 pairs.
* Increase in frequency : 11 pairs.
* 300 additional services in Mumbai suburban.
* Special train from Anandpur Sahib and Patna Sahib to Gurudwara Sachkhand Sahib during tercentenary function of Shri Guru Granth Sahib of Gurta Gaddi.
* Special train between Pune and Delhi for Commonwealth Youth Games being held in Pune from 12th-18th October this year.
Concessions:
* Senior citizen concession for women enhanced to 50% from existing 30%.
* Free monthly seasonal ticket to girl students up to Graduation level in place of 12th standard and for boys up to 12th standard in place of 10th standard.
Ticketing:
* Termination of queues at ticket counters targeted in two years.
* Ticket booking on mobile phones; e-ticket for waitlisted passengers.
* Increase in unreserved ticketing systems counters to 15,000 and ATVMs to 6000.
Safety and security:
* Multi-pronged scheme to strengthen railway safety through various automatic devices like anti-collision device etc.
* Integrated security plan drawn up through installation of CCTVs, metal detectors etc.
Welfare:
* Minorities welfare cells to be opened at Railway Board and Zonal Railways.
* One time exercise of appointing railway porters as gangmen and to other Group D posts.
* Mother-child health express to be run on a pilot basis at concessional fares in collaboration with Rajiv Gandhi Foundation for providing medical facilities to mother and child.
Vision:
* Vision 2025 to define roadmap for coming 17 years, customer centric and market responsive strategic initiatives.
* Public-private partnership schemes to be launched for attracting an investment of Rs 1,00,000 cr over the next five years for developing world class stations, rolling stock ad other logistics.
* Commercial use of railway land by Rail Land Development Authority to give a boost to railway revenues.
Other important announcements:
* A new rail coach factory to be set up in Kerala.
* A new wagon re-construction unit to be set up at Garkha in Chapra district.
Performance 2007-08:
* Double digit growth in traffic earnings maintained in first nine months.
* Growth in passenger earnings 14%.
* Expected growth in goods earnings 14%.
* Cash surplus before dividend expected to be a record Rs 25,000 cr.
* Net revenue expected at Rs 18,416 cr and surplus after payment of dividend expected at Rs 13,534 cr.
Budget estimates 2008-09:
* Freight loading target: 850 million tones.
* Revenues in freight earnings to be Rs 52,700 cr; passenger earnings to be Rs 21,681 cr.
* Gross traffic receipts to be Rs 81,901 cr, an increase of 12.6 per cent over Re. (AGENCIES)

‘Chak De’

NEW DELHI, Feb 26: Railway Minister Lalu Prasad today invoked Shah Rukh Khan and his blockbuster Chak De India when, in his budget speech, he said every child in the country chanted ‘Chak De’ Railway.

"Goal par goal daag rahe hain hum har match main, desh ka bacha-bacha bolay ‘Chak De Railway,’’ the Railway Minister said amid laughter.

Mr Prasad’s hour-long speech was marked by his usual wit and couplets, eulogising his Ministry’s performance and progress in pulling out the Railways from the red.

"Sab kah rahe hain hamne gazab kaam kiya hai,

Karoron ka munafa har ek sham diya hai,

Phal saalon yeh ab dega, paudha jo lagaya hai, Sewa ka, samarpan ka, har farz nibhaya hai.’’ (everybody is saying we have done a great job. Every evening we make profits worth crores. The tree we have planted will bear fruit for years. We have only done our duty of sacrifice and service.)

Taking a dig at his predecessor—the NDA Government, he said :

"Ujda chaman jo chhod gaye thay haamare dost, Ab baat kar rahe hain woh fasle bahar ki.’’ (our friends who had left behind a deserted garden, are now talking about the crops of spring.)

Making light of the criticism of his previous announcement about setting up fully computerised enquiry call centres, and likening these to ‘Mungeri lal ke haseen sapne (Mungeri Lal’s sweet dreams), the Railway Minister said he was happy that Mungeri Lal’s dreams were now a reality.(UNI)

Kapur is FC Home, Rajindera IGP Jammu
23 senior officers transferred, several
others get new grades
*6711 Anganwari centres, 13422 posts approveda

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Feb 26: The State Cabinet which met here today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has ordered transfers and adjustments in civil and police administration.

S. S. Sahni, Financial Commissioner Agriculture Production Department has been transferred and posted as Financial Commissioner (Coordination), New Delhi, a post which has been revived in the pay scale of Rs. 26,000. S. S. Kapur, Financial Commissioner, Planning and Development was transferred and posted as Financial Commissioner, Home Department.

Mohammad Iqbal Khanday, Chairman, Bureau of Public Enterprises, Finance Department has been transferred and posted as Principal Secretary Planning and Development while Sonali Kumar, Principal Secretary ARI and Trainings Department was transferred and posted as Principal Secretary Agriculture Production Department.

Dr Ravi K Jerath, Chairman, J&K Special Tribunal has been transferred and posted as Principal Secretary, Social Welfare Department. Lokesh Dutt Jha, Commissioner/Secretary, Industries and Commerce Department was transferred and posted as Commissioner/Secretary, ARI and Trainings Department.

N.K.Verma, Secretary Social Welfare Department has been transferred and posted as Secretary, Department of Culture while Dr. Pawan Kotwal, Secretary to Chief Minister has been transferred and posted as Secretary Industries and Commerce Department.

G.A.Peer, Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag transferred and posted as Secretary School Education Department vice K.M.Wani, whose orders of posting will be issued separately. Peer shall hand over charge of the post of Deputy Commissioner Anantnag to J P Singh, Additional District Development Commissioner Anantnag.

K. Rajindera Kumar, IGP CID has been transferred and posted as IGP Jammu in place of Dr S P Vaid, P L Gupta, IGP Human Rights Commission was transferred and posted as IGP Headquarters.

S. K. Mishra, IGP Vigilance has been transferred and posted as IGP State Human Rights Commission.

Ram Lubhaya, Director Sher-i-Kashmir Police Academy, Udhampur was transferred and posted as IGP (Personnel) PHQ while Gopal Reddy, awaiting orders of posting, has been posted as new IGP Vigilance.

Dr S.P. Vaid, IGP Jammu has been transferred and posted as IGP Crime and Railways vice Dilbagh Singh. Naveen Agrawal, IGP Home Guards has been transferred and posted as Director Sher-i-Kashmir Police Academy, Udhampur

Dilbagh Singh, IGP Crime and Railways has been transferred and posted as IGP CID. Zahoor Ahmed Chesti, awaiting orders of adjustment, has been posted as IGP Modernization PHQ against available vacancy.

Lalat Indu Mohanty, DIG Jammu Kathua Range has been promoted and posted as IGP Home Guards Civil Defence. Hemant Lohia, DIG Anantnag range has been transferred and posted as DIG Doda range while Farooq Ahmad Khan, DIG Doda Range has been transferred and posted as DIG Jammu-Kathua Range.

Muneer Khan, DIG Armed has been transferred and posted as DIG Anantnag

Abdul Gani Mir, SSP Anantnag has been promoted as DIG and posted as DIG Armed Jammu.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet has approved creation of 6711 additional Anganwari centres in 140 ICDS projects of the State under phase III of ICDS expansion scheme.

It also approved creation of 6711 posts of Anganwari workers and same number of helpers for the new Anganwari centres. The Cabinet also gave nod to creation of 268 additional posts of Supervisor with one supervisor for each 25 Anganwari Centres in the pay scale of Rs 4000-6000.

For the purpose of selecting Anganwari centres, the State Cabinet also accorded sanction to the constitution of a committee for each district with District Social Welfare Officer as its convener, CDPO of concerned block as Member Secretary and concerned BDO, President of Talika Panchayat/Block Advisory Committee and district representative of State Social Welfare Board as members of the committee.

The Cabinet has approved promotion of 24 IAS officers to the Selection grade of Rs.15,100-18300:-

They are Rohit Kansal (on proforma basis), Shalendra Kumar, M. S. Khan, K. B. Jandial, Ghulam Ahmed Peer, Tanveer Jehan, Ravi K. Thusu, A.K. Raina, Syed Fazalullah, Jeet Lal Gupta, V. K. Bakshi, Bishen Dass Sharma, Bashir Ahmad Khawaja, Gowhar Ahmed, Pradeep Gupta, B. A. Runiyal, Farooq Ahmad Pir, Yedullah, Sunita Sharma, Abdul Hamid Wani, Bua Ditta Bhagat, Kachoo Isfandyar Khan, Tashi Dorjee and Ghulam Rasool Ghani,

It also approved promotion of three Junior Scale IAS officers to the senior time scale of Rs.10,650-15,850. They are Ajeet Kumar Sahu, Mandeep Kour and Pandurang Kondabarao Pole.

The Cabinet also accorded sanction to the placement of Farooq A. Wani I/C. SE Mechanical as I/C Chief Engineer and posted him as Chief Engineer Mechanical, Jammu.

The Cabinet approved promotion of Lalat Indu Mohanty, IPS to the rank of IGP in suppertime scale of Rs 18400-22400 and promotion of 10 IPS officers to the rank of DIGs in suppertime scale of Rs 16400-20,000.

They are Syed Javid Mujtaba Gilani, Sulaman Salaria, Sunil Kumar Sharma, Farooq Khan, Kamal Kumar Saini, Prithvi Raj Manhas, Yoginder Kaul, Alok Puri, Muneer Ahmad Khan and A. Q. Manhas.

The Cabinet also approved placement of seven IPS officers in the Selection Grade of Rs 14300-18300. They are Saji Mohan, Shiv Darshan Singh Jamwal, Rajesh Kumar, Tsewang Namgyal Kalon, Syed Ahmad Syed, B. A. Malla and Tsering Phunchok.

Lalu's claim on rail to Srinagar challenged
UPA slowed down peace process: Farooq

By Mohinder Verma

JAMMU, Feb 26: Stepping up tirade against United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government at the Centre, former Chief Minister and patron of the National Conference Dr Farooq Abdullah today said that present Union Government doesn’t have the guts to take the peace process between India and Pakistan to its logical conclusion.

"The present Government at the Centre has completely slowed down the peace process with the neighbouring country. It was due to Union Government that nothing tangible could come out despite the fact that General Pervez Musharraf contributed a lot in confidence building measures between two countries", he said in an informal chat with the media-persons here today.

Dr Abdullah, who is also a Member Parliament, said "I don’t think that the UPA Government has guts to carry forward peace process effectively and take it to the logical conclusion", adding "I am also not satisfied with the President Pratibha Devisingh Patil’s assertions about the peace process between India and Pakistan".

Terming announcement of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav about connecting Kashmir valley with train by 2009 an attempt to ‘mislead’ people of Jammu and Kashmir with eyes on the elections, the National Conference patron said "the Centre has the habit of giving such sugar coated pills to the people of this State and Lalu’s announcement is also one such pill".

"We had to wait for about 23 years to see the trains chugging upto Udhampur. Even during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s Government at the Centre, it was announced that the train will reach Kashmir valley by 2007 but much to the surprise of all it is still struck at Udhampur", he further said.

Keeping in view the fact that tunnel between Udhampur-Katra section has collapsed and new alignment is required to be carried out besides much difficult Katra-Qazigund section, it can be easily presumed that Railway Minister was indulging in ‘day dreaming’ about providing rail connectivity to the Kashmir valley, Dr Abdullah said and challenged Lalu Yadav to connect twin capitals of the State with trains by end of 2009.

He also advised Railway Minister not to mislead the people by making such ‘hollow’ announcements.

In reply to a question, the NC patron said "If I am asked to prepare railway budget my priority will be to provide rail connectivity to Poonch, Ramban, Kishtwar and other areas besides Kashmir valley".

About the tirade of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti against the National Conference leadership, Dr Abdullah said "had we been frustrated we would have not easily paved the way for formation of coalition Government", adding "the time will expose the frustration of the PDP leadership".

He immediately add: "Let’s wait. You will see Mehbooba Mufti’s utterance against Delhi after the fall of the Government in the elections".

About party president Omar Abdullah’s announcement that National Conference was open to pre-poll alliance with like minded parties, the party patron said "neither Farooq nor Omar but working committee of the party will take any decision on the alliance".

Don't join politics to make money, but serve people: Azad

Excelsior Correspondent

REASI, Feb 26: Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has urged the people to dismantle walls of hatred built to garner votes, saying his Government was resolute to erect foundation of the State on firm will and solid programmes capable to face any challenge.

Addressing a public meeting after laying foundation stone of mini secretariat here today, Mr Azad said that Governments, like people, should be recognized by their work and policies and his Government’s policy was to ensure all round development and extending amenities and services to people at village level.

"The people were fed up with hollow slogans and instead wanted their day to day problems addressed. The present era was an era of development as the time to mislead and divide masses on the name of religion and region was over. The slogans, did not produce hospitals, roads or schools, adding that development demanded hard work and single-minded concentration on addressing the people’s problems," he added.

He said that he and his colleagues in the Government were determined to change the meaning of politics that, of late, had unfortunately come to mean amassing wealth and building influence. "More often than not people join politics to make money rather than serve the masses. This trend had degenerated the political landscape. As a follower of political philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, I had tried to make a small effort to change the meaning of politics by setting standards in the service to people all along my political career", he said and pointed out that Gandhiji was no comparison in strength and power of the British empire but his determination and will saw the end of colonial rule in India.

He said he, together with his colleagues in the Government, were trying to positively change the meaning of politics and called for public support to achieve this end. "Without your support the task is difficult to achieve", he added.    

Mr Azad said the coalition Government had brought about a sea change in development scenario in the State and with the support of electorate after returning to power again for next six years would speed up this process further. A special focus was given to development of backward areas by making available more funds and taking up development schemes, he added. He referred to creation of eight new districts and said this was done to take development process to neglected areas and allow these equal opportunities to grow and progress.

Making a mention of Reasi which was a district till 1949 when the status was snatched from it, the Chief Minister said that his Government had restored this position to the area. He said if Reasi was not robbed of the district status it would have been a developed area by now. He, however, assured people that no effort would be spared to make the deficiencies of past 60 years. He said a committee constituted by the Prime Minister after he had made a request to him for an economic package for roads, had found that in the erstwhile districts of Doda and Udhampur only 5% and 11% road connectivity was available, respectively. 

He said development and progress did not travel where there were no roads. He said that being so, the two districts were divided into five to speed up the development process and hoped that in next five years the new districts would see a lot of positive change.

Mr Azad said the creation of and making operational the eight new districts was a historic development as the entire process took only eight months. He said the construction of mini Secretariats for the new districts was attached top priority as it was felt that all district offices should be under one roof. He said most of the mini Secretariat buildings would be ready by the year end. He said Reasi district had tremendous pilgrim tourism potential and the Government was working on developing a tourist circuit here to attract tourists in large numbers. He said the country’s major cancer hospital being built at a cost of Rs. 100 crore here would be ready in six months. 

Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister, Muzaffar Hussain Baig said that today was a day of joy for the people of Reasi district. He said the Chief Minister had changed the fortunes of Reasi by according it the district status. He said he was looking forward to the day when tourists would throng this place like they go to Pahalgam and Gulmarg.

Minister for R&B, Jugal Kishore and Minister of State for Rural Development, Finance and Revenue, Ajaz Ahmad Khan also spoke on the occasion and dwelt in detail on measures taken by the Azad-led coalition Government to change the development profile of the State.

We can't nab Dawood: Interpol

MUMBAI, Feb 26: Interpol general secretary Ronald K Noble today admitted that the international police organization cannot nab global terrorist Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar since Interpol cannot dictate terms to any country.

It is for the country, where Dawood is currently residing, to take the initiative and help in nabbing the underworld don, he said.

Mr Noble is here in Mumbai to participate in the two-day second CII annual global forum on Innovation, Creativity and Intellectual Property.

Talking to newspersons on the sidelines of the meet, Mr Noble said, "We cannot dictate terms to any specific country. Each and every Interpol member country should take the initiative to prosecute the accused in their country itself or should expedite the extradition of the accused."

To a query, Mr Noble agreed that Dawood Ibrahim was in Pakistan, but it was for Pakistan to come forward to help in nabbing him.

The terrorists problem, he pointed out, can be effectively tackled at the diplomatic level.(UNI)

HC quashes Govt order nullifying selection
of 2000 cops in J&K

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Feb 26: In a much publicized selection of 2000 IRP constables in which then DIG Jammu-Kathua Range Niaz Mahmood was suspended on the allegations of corruption, Justice Y P Nargotra of State High Court has partially quashed the Government order of January 10, 2007 whereby the whole selection process was nullified.

The judgement has been passed in two petitions wherein it has been submitted that vide advertisement notice dated August 26, 2006, applications were invited from the permanent residents of the State for the recruitment of 2000 posts of constables in IRP 13th and 14th Battalions.

Pursuant to the advertisement notice about 33000 candidates applied for the posts of constables in the IRP and a committee headed by then DIG Jammu-Kathua Range Niaz Mahmood Mir was constituted for the selection. The candidates were subjected to various tests as prescribed by the advertisement notice.

However, the selection process was not concluded, despite the fact that indoor and outdoor tests stood completed because MLA Akhnoor Sham Lal Sharma issued a statement in the press making allegations of mass corruption against the Selection Board.

Taking serious note of the allegations, the Home Department on January 10, 2007 ordered that the physical tests for selection of the candidates in IRP from Jammu and Kathua districts be considered as null and void and Director General of Police will constitute recruitment board afresh for the recruitment. The Government also ordered suspension of DIG and an enquiry was ordered against him.

Aggrieved over the annulment of the selection process, the candidates filed petitions for seeking quashment of Government order. The petitioner submitted that they had qualified all the tests and completed all the formalities, therefore, there was no irregularity in their selection process and there was no justifiable reason for the Government to nullify the whole selection process.

After hearing Senior Advocate U K Jalali and Advocates Anil Khajuria, Romesh Arora and Raghu Mehta appearing for the petitioners and ADG B S Slathia appearing for the State respondents, Justice Y P Nargotra observed that reinstatement of the DIG on the conclusion of the enquiry conducted by Inspector General of Police, CID Headquarters has indicated that the Enquiry Officer didn’t find the allegations of corruption substantiate.

"It is also indicated that in the case of only 49 candidates, enquiry officer after taking the re-measurement records in the application forms, noticed only minor irregularities and that too were ignored for taking as evidence of mall practice against the DIG. The fact remains that except 49 candidates no irregularities has come to be detected out of total 33000 candidates", the Court further observed.

Even Senior Advocate U K Jalali submitted "once it is admitted case of the respondents that there was no irregularity found in case of other candidates except 49 candidates, there could be no justifiable reason to annul the entire selection process".

AAG BS Slathia in the face of enquiry report did not dispute the fact that except in respect of 49 candidates, no irregularity was found in the selection process relating to the rest of the candidates.

In this situation, the Court said that the respondent don’t seem to be justified to make the physical test already conducted as null and void, especially when the DIG, who was heading the selection board has already been exonerated.

"In this view of the matter the impugned Government order is partially quashed. Newly constituted selection board shall proceed with the selection process from the stage the earlier selection board had left. However, it shall be open for the selection board to subject only such candidates in respect of whom irregularities have been detected during the enquiry to fresh endurance tests", the Court said and directed that selection process shall be completed if possible within a period of one month.

Sharif keen to visit J&K

ISLAMABAD, Feb 26: Former Pakistan Premier Nawaz Sharif has expressed a desire to visit Jammu and Kashmir to participate in a ground-breaking ceremony for a hospital to be built by his friend, well-known cardiologist Fayaz Shawl.

"It is Mr Sharif’s wish to visit Srinagar to participate in the ceremony but everything will depend on the Indian Government and the prevailing circumstances," senior PML-N leader Siddique-ul-Farooq said.

Farooq recalled that Sharif had always worked for better ties with India and was keen on resolving the Kashmir issue to improve relations between the two countries.

Shawl, the Head of Interventional Cardiovascular Medicine in the George Washington University Hospital in the US, has treated several global leaders.

The Cardiologist told reporters in Srinagar last week that Sharif planned to visit Srinagar when work on the hospital begins in summer.

"Sharif has told me it’s his dream to visit Srinagar. He has assured me he would come here once the work on the hospital begins," Shawl was quoted as saying.(PTI)

Pay Comm report by April 4

NEW DELHI, Feb 26: The Government today said the Sixth Pay Commission will submit its report by April 4.

"The Commission is to finalise and submit its report within 18 months of its constitution, that is 4th April, 2008," Minister of State for Finance P K Bansal told Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

About implementation of the Pay Commission’s recommendations, Bansal said, "since the report is to be submitted, the time frame for its implementation cannot be stated".

With regard to the terms of reference of the Sixth Pay Commission, he said the Commission is examining the desirability and need to sanction any interim relief till the time its recommendations are made.

On media reports about a huge hike in salaries of civil service staff, Bansal added that the Commission is yet to finalise and submit its report, so the information doing the rounds in media might be speculative.

The Sixth Pay Commission was constituted in October, 2006 to recommend comprehensive changes in salary structure of the Government employees.

It would give recommendations concerning the pay structure of Government employees comprising industrial and non-industrial Central Government employees, All India Services, Armed Forces personnel and employees in the Union Territories.

Besides, the Commission would examine the pay structure for Indian Audit and Accounts Department, regulatory bodies set up by Acts in the Parliament and Supreme Court employees, Bansal said. (PTI)

US Defence Secretary arrives

NEW DELHI, Feb 26: Indo-US Defence ties are set for a major boost with US Defence Secretary Robert Gates’ arrival here today and his discussions with Indian leaders including Defence Minister AK Antony and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Mr Gates arrived this afternoon on a two-day visit to India, possibly to press for some defence deals, strengthening the defence ties between the two countries.

The visit, his first to India since assuming office on December 18, 2006, takes place in the last of the eight- year Bush presidency that witnessed unprecedented acceleration in Indo-US engagement and qualitative transformation in their relationship, particularly in defence.

An official spokesman said India and the US have a strong framework of defence cooperation established by the 2005 defence framework agreement and a comprehensive institutional framework of exchanges.

"Secretary Gates visit will give a further impetus to the ongoing defence cooperation between our two countries. His visit reaffirms the importance of the Indo-US relations and the strong political support in the US for our strategic partnership. India also reiterates its interest in looking forward to broad-based defence ties with the US,’’ the spokesman added

During his stay, Mr Gates will meet National Security Advisor (NSA) MK Narayanan and leader of Opposition LK Advani besides External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Defence Minister AK Antony.(UNI)

Terrorism in J&K on the decline

NEW DELHI, There has been a decrease in terrorist incidents in Jammu and Kashmir during the last two years, Rajya Sabha was informed today.

While number of terrorist incidents were 1667 in 2006, it declined to 1092 in 2007, Minister of State for Home Affairs Sriprakash Jaiswal said in a written reply.

Communal violence: About 40 Christian families of Barakhamma and Baliguda area and about 400 people from Kattingia and Tiarigram, who had earlier fled from their homes during the recent communal violence, have returned, Jaiswal said.

Public order and police being state subjects as per the Constitution, the state governments are primarily responsible for maintenance of law and order in the region, he said.

Religious places: Security has been beefed up in and around Guwahati following inputs of threat to religious places in the area, Minister of State for Home Affairs Radhika Selvi said.

General alert has also been issued as regard to other religious places located in different parts of Assam, she said.

Available inputs indicate that some Indian insurgent groups active in the North Eastern Region have been using Bangladesh for shelter, training camps and procurement of arms and ammunition, Selvi said.

Citizenship: Cases have been registered against the persons from Kerala who had migrated to Pakistan after partition and returned back to India at different point of time on Pakistani passports to join their family members, Jaiswal said.

ID cards: The Government proposes to issue Multi-Purpose National Identity Card (MNIC) to the citizens in the country, Minister of State for Home Affairs Manikrao Gavit said.

The project envisages providing unique National Identity Number to each person in the National Population Register.

However, keeping in view the complexities involved both in the process and technology, a pilot project has been under implementation on an experimental basis covering a population of 30.95 lakhs in the selected areas in 12 states and a Union Territory, he said. (PTI)